Lewis Hamilton has received an ‘official warning’ from the FIA after he was called to the stewards for an incident that occurred during the second free practice session at the Japanese Grand Prix on Friday. The seven-time world champion was judged to have overtaken cars in the fast lane ‘while traversing the working lane to the practice start area’. This was a breach of Article 12.2.1 of the international sporting code.
Ferrari representatives and Hamilton were both called to the stewards and after a short discussion, both the team and driver were handed reprimands. Aston Martin and Lance Stroll received the same outcome after they were called in to face the FIA for the same issue.
Hamilton will be pleased to only receive a warning after being wrapped up in a double disqualification at the Chinese Grand Prix two weeks ago. The 40-year-old’s car failed post-race inspection after his skid block wear exceeded the maximum permitted by 0.5mm.
Team-mate Charles Leclerc met the same fate as Hamilton. His No.16 machine was measured as 1kg underweight despite picking up rubber on the cool-down lap in the customary attempt to pass post-race weight inspections.
While the disqualifications cost Leclerc and Hamilton their P5 and P6 finishes in Shanghai, the Brit is not losing sleep over the incident. “I didn’t feel like any frustration or anything afterwards,” he said in Japan. “It is what it is.
“And, of course, we’ve gone through everything. I was at the factory on Wednesday, and lots of learnings. We take the highs and lows together as a team. And obviously, it’s not what everyone’s worked hard to have happen on a race weekend.
“No team, no engineer, no mechanic, puts all the effort in for something like that. But, I’d say the most impressive thing is how the team have taken it, how they’ve worked, how they’ve turned through the data, and how we progress from here is most important.”
Ferrari are now facing an uphill battle in the Constructors’ Championship standings after just two races, while Hamilton and Leclerc are already way off the pace relative to leader Lando Norris. The Prancing Horse have secured just 17 points thus far, leaving them fifth in the standings heading into the Japanese GP.
