Stewards issue reprimand after Leclerc's spin
Lewis Hamilton was reprimanded after he did not visibly slow down at a double yellow flag during sprint qualifying in Brazil. The situation arose when his teammate Charles Leclerc turned briefly at the exit of turn 10, when the double yellow flag was shown.
What exactly happened
Hamilton was eliminated in the second session of qualifying. He will start Saturday's sprint from spot 11. The stewards concluded that he had broken the rules by not reducing his speed sufficiently. Nevertheless, he was not given a grid penalty.
Reason for reprimand rather than punishment
According to the stewards, the short duration of the signal played a role. The left warning panel was lit for only a fraction of a second, just as Hamilton turned into the corner. Nevertheless, the stewards felt he should have noticed he was in a yellow sector and clearly had to lower his speed.
Exquisite telemetry showed that Hamilton hesitated when reopening the throttle, but did not lose enough speed as required. For consistency with previous decisions, the stewards opted for a reprimand instead of the usual five-place grid penalty.
Response from Hamilton
Hamilton indicated during the hearing that he had not seen the left warning panel. He looked more to the right as he entered the corner and saw both Leclerc's car and a green signal at the exit point. He said he is now on 11 and will try to make the best of the sprint from there.
- Incident: Leclerc turned at turn 10, double yellow flag was shown.
- Hamilton: not enough speed reduced according to stewards.
- Telemetry: hesitation when accelerating, but no obvious speed reduction.
- Decision: reprimand instead of five-place grid penalty.
- Starting spot sprint: Hamilton on P11.
What does this mean for the sprint
Starting from 11 is a tricky position. Hamilton said he wants to keep having fun and will try to move forward. For the championship, this reprimand changes little, but it is another setback in a difficult season for him.
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