Lewis Hamilton’s start to the Dutch Grand Prix has gone from bad to worse, with the seven-time world champion picking up a three-place grid penalty for impeding Sergio Perez during Q1. He will start Sunday’s race from P15 on the grid.
As the pair converged on track in Q1 with the latter on a flying lap, Hamilton attempted to stay out of Perez’s way by hugging the left-hand side of the track. Despite his best efforts, he impeded the Red Bull racer, who duly fumed on the radio: “What the f*** is this idiot doing?”
The incident was then noted and placed under investigation, with Hamilton summoned to the stewards after the session to defend himself. For his part, Perez was adamant that the Brit deserved a penalty, although he did acknowledge his rival’s attempts to stay out of the way.
After chatting with the Mercedes driver, the stewards gave their verdict after a lengthy wait. Despite trying his best to avoid blocking Perez, Hamilton picked up a three-place grid penalty.
The penalty verdict comes with plenty of controversy. For Hamilton, it was a case of wrong place, wrong time, as there was nothing the Brit could have done to avoid affecting Perez’s lap.
“It was just wrong time, wrong moment,” he told Sky Sports F1. “I think he did the best he could to get out of the way. Unfortunately with this sort of incident, the stewards have been very strict throughout the season.
“I’ve got penalties for a lot worse [less] than that, and a lot of drivers. It was just unfortunate timing. That cost me an extra set of tyres and I think will cost him a penalty. But other than that I think he was just wrong time, wrong moment.”
Hamilton’s troubles didn’t end there. After an underwhelming banker lap, the seven-time world champion found himself under pressure to improve on the final run of Q2. He did better his time, but not by a big enough margin, condemning him to a P12 finish in the session.
Venting his frustrations, he told Sky Sports F1: “It was a pretty shocking session. You know, these things happen, what can I say? It’s done now, definitely doesn’t feel good. It all went badly from the moment that the situation with Perez happened and I did my best to get out of the way, I was as far to the left as possible, but just [the] timing was bad.”
