Lewis Hamilton’s punishment at the Mexico Grand Prix has been labelled ‘harsh’ by a Formula 1 insider.The Ferrari star and seven-time world champion received a ten-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage when he rejoined the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez ahead of Max Verstappen, having locked up heading into turn four on lap six.
It was made clear that the penalty applied to the Ferrari star wasn’t due to him failing to use the escape road as instructed, but for the fact that he rejoined ahead of Verstappen and failed to give the place back.
Hamilton complained vociferously about the penalty on team radio at the time, and after the race, former F1 driver turned pundit and commentator Karun Chandhok backed him up, calling for the Driving Standard Guidelines to be tweaked by the relevant authorities.
“The 10 seconds for Lewis seemed harsh – he was not penalised for the incident, but for gaining an advantage from going off track. 5 seconds would have been more appropriate IMO…”In the event, the penalty stuck and functionally ruined the Brit’s race, leaving him down the field and fighting for eighth place, as opposed to battling Verstappen and Charles Leclerc for his first Ferrari podium.Up until that point, it had been a positive weekend in Mexico City for the Brit, qualifying third and starting the grand prix on the second row.
