Hamilton's race engineer under fire: 'That's poor communication'

Speaking over team radio to inform Hamilton of the ten-second penalty handed down by the stewards for his early-race clash with Max Verstappen, Adami said: “We have a 10-second penalty for the incident at Turn 4 with Verstappen. We don’t agree.”

In reality, the seven-time world champion wasn’t penalised for the collision itself or for failing to follow the race director’s instructions through Turns 4 to 6, but for leaving the track and gaining an advantage without giving the position back to Verstappen — a point Chandhok was quick to highlight.

“That’s poor communication because you’ve unnecessarily riled up the driver without giving him all of the facts, and I think that’s not actually true,” the former F1 driver told Sky Sports. “He’s not been given a penalty for the incident, he’s been given the penalty because he gained time.”

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, the Canadian driver pointed out that the track-cutting incidents involving Hamilton and Verstappen in Mexico were not the same, urging Ferrari to respond differently.

The seven-time world champion’s race was heavily compromised by the penalty. At the time, Hamilton was right in the mix for a podium finish — something he’s yet to achieve this season in his first year with Ferrari.

In the end, he had to settle for eighth place, while his teammate claimed his seventh podium of the season, narrowly beating Verstappen to second at the chequered flag.