Lewis Hamilton: “A racing incident”

This Sunday July 5 will have been a case of penalties for Lewis Hamilton. Ranked second after qualifying yesterday, the Briton was sanctioned a few minutes before the start earlier in the day, for not having slowed down sufficiently under the yellow flag in Q3, a maneuver that the commissioners had not however sanctioned on Saturday.

But the intervention of Red Bull Racing and the provision of new elements made the panel of commissioners change their minds, relegating Hamilton to 5th place on the grid.

Author of a rhythmic rise in the peloton at the start of the race, the driver Mercedes was able to benefit from the abandonment of Max Verstappen (Red Bull) to follow in the wake of his teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Without, however, managing to worry the leader despite the possibilities offered by the safety cars, Hamilton also having to, like Bottas, manage problems with the gearbox sensor, and avoid the vibrators.

Worse for the world champion, a contact on the RB16 of an Alex Albon offensive at the end of the race will result in a 5″ penalty for Hamilton, and cause the resident of the W11 n°44 to lose the podium.

"I don't have any particular feelings at this moment, comments Hamilton on Sky Sports. The race is over and I'm thinking about moving forward. Of course, it wasn't a very good weekend for me. Yesterday it was entirely my fault and it was quite strange in the preparation for today to have this penalty.

This didn't destabilize me, but encouraged me to drive as best I could. And I think I did, coming back to Valtteri. What happened with Alex was unfortunate. but I have the impression that it was a racing incident. But I take the penalty they think I deserve and move on. »

4th in the end, Lewis Hamilton will however have to react quickly next weekend and why not take his revenge to try to regain a victory that has eluded him at Spielberg since 2016.

Discover the full report and analysis of the Austrian Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondent in Spielberg, in issue 2268 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.