Lewis Hamilton made it clear what he thought of being penalised for the second event in a row at Interlagos.

The Ferrari driver received a five-second time penalty for colliding with Franco Colapinto at the end of the first lap. Hamilton touched the rear of the Alpine in the high-speed curve approaching the start/finish line.

He was immediately concerned by the deterioration in his car’s handling. “I’ve got damage,” said Hamilton on lap two. “Yeah, I’m out of this race.” Ferrari replaced his front wing but confirmed his floor was also broken.

Hamilton continued in the race but it took the stewards until lap 29 to issue his penalty. His race engineer Ricardo Adami told him: “we have a five-second time penalty for collision.”

“These guys are a joke,” Hamilton fumed. “Complete joke. The car moved over on me, so I clipped my wing.”

Hamilton lost his front wing in the collision, which went underneath his car and damaged the floor. Ferrari estimated it cost him around 30 points of downforce, enough to seriously compromise its handling.

He had already pitted twice when his penalty was announced, and came in for his third pit stop on lap 32 to serve it. He retired five laps later.

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“Which collision did I get accused of?” Hamilton asked Adami as Ferrari pushed his car into the garage. “Hit the Williams, turn 13, Colapinto,” replied Adami, mistaking the Alpine for another car.

The FIA previously penalised other drivers for using similar terms before revising its rules on ‘misconduct’. At the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Sergio Perez was given a formal warning for saying “the stewards are a joke” on his radio in response to a penalty decision which went against him.

The stewards ruled Hamilton was to blame for the collision with Colapinto but said the contact was minor enough to deserve a lenient penalty.

Penalty box

Did the stewards issue the correct penalty? Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.

Hamilton’s penalty for colliding with Colapinto was:

  • No opinion (3%)
  • Far too lenient (2%)
  • Slightly too lenient (8%)
  • Correct (34%)
  • Slightly too harsh (21%)
  • Far too harsh (32%)

Total Voters: 62

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