Lewis Hamilton was slapped with a penalty to serve during the Mexico City Grand Prix. It was given by the Formula 1 stewards who found the seven-time champion guilty of leaving the track and gaining an advantage as he battled with Max Verstappen in the early stages of Sunday’s race.
Hamilton started third and was among several drivers who battled for the lead on the run down to the first corner. He ended up finding himself sandwiched between pole-starter Lando Norris and team-mate Charles Leclerc, while Max Verstappen tried to get past all of them around the outside.
The Dutchman went off track and rejoined in fourth while, after the first few corners, Norris retained the lead with Leclerc behind him and Hamilton still in the podium positions. But there was another fraught moment a few laps later when Hamilton was battling with Verstappen for that third spot.
Hamilton ended up going off track after locking up his tyres. Instead of travelling down the defined exit road, he then skipped along the grass and rejoined the track still in third place. Over the radio, Verstappen made it clear he wanted to see his rival punished.
And the Red Bull racer got his wish. Hamilton was investigated and cleared for not using the proper exit road, but was given a 10-second time penalty because the stewards decided he had left the track and gained an advantage from it.
When he was told about the penalty over the radio, the Brit made it clear he thought it was the wrong decision. He told race engineer Riccardo Adami: “That’s such s*** man. The grid is so small there… the grip there is so low!”
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