Hamilton’s damaged Ferrari: why he didn’t retire immediately in Brazil
Despite a damaged car, Lewis Hamilton continued to lap during the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Here’s why the Briton had to stay out longer.
On Lap 1 of the Brazil GP, the British driver made contact with Franco Colapinto's Alpine on the main straight, which damaged his front wing and floor.
After the race, team boss Frederic Vasseur explained that Hamilton's car was heavily damaged. "When you are last and you are missing 35 points or 40 points on the car, I'm not sure that it makes sense to damage the engine, so we save the penalty and we stop the car."
The incident was under investigation by the stewards. In the end, the Briton then received a five-second time penalty and a penalty point on his super license.
In their explanation, the stewards wrote: "On lap 2, Car 44 (Hamilton) closed up behind Car 43 (Colapinto) in Turn 15. During the approach, there was contact between the right front tyre of Car 44 and the left rear tyre of Car 43 (Colapinto).
"While Car 43 was able to continue without consequences, the front wing of Car 44 sustained damage. The Stewards determined that Car 44 was wholly responsible for the incident.
"Although the contact was minor, the incident is classified as a collision since it resulted in mechanical damage to one of the cars.
"However, there are mitigating factors that justify a reduction of the standard 10-second time penalty to 5 seconds.
"The collision occurred at a low speed differential, did not have an immediate and obvious sporting consequence for the other car, and can be regarded as a relatively light contact."
Hamilton caught out by grid penalty after Zandvoort
If a driver can't serve a five-second time penalty, it does not translate into a grid penalty for the next event, but a ten-second one does.
The Briton received a three-place grid penalty for the Italian GP earlier this year. He was handed a 10-second time penalty for speeding under the double yellow flags on the reconnaissance lap.
Once Hamilton served his penalty in Brazil, he retired from the race, as Ferrari scored a disappointing double DNF.
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