Stewards reveal why Hamilton was not penalized after his incident with Norris
Photo: Race Pictures
Kada Sárközi joined GPblog as an editor ahead of the 2023 Formula 1 season. He graduated with a BA in Sports Journalism in the UK and has covered Grands Prix and other F1 events live.
Lewis Hamilton was briefly investigated during the Singapore Grand Prix after his battle against Lando Norris. Here is why the Ferrari driver did not receive a time penalty at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
On older soft tyres, Hamilton was trying to keep both Norris and Kimi Antonelli behind during the final laps of the Singapore Grand Prix. After Norris tried to make a move stick into Turn 1, Hamilton went wide and cut Turn 2. He returned to the track the way it was indicated in Turn 3.
The seven-time world champion was subsequently investigated by the stewards for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
The stewards' verdict on the Hamilton-Norris incident
In the end, the stewards decided against penalizing Hamilton. Their verdict reads: "Car 44 (Hamilton) left the track in turn 1 while the driver was defending his position to Car 1 (Norris). However, the overtaking attempt by Car 1 was not a legitimate one as Car 1 also left the track at the same point. Therefore the Stewards determine that both cars re-joined the track in the correct order.
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"Having done so, both Car 44 and Car 1 lost their positions to Car 12 which was behind them when they left the track. Given all that, the Stewards determine that no further action is warranted in this case."
Photo: Race Pictures
Hamilton apologizes for strategy mistake in Singapore
Speaking after the Singapore Grand Prix, the Briton acknowledged that he made a mistake in terms of the strategy. Hamilton said: "Unfortunately the Medium didn’t perform as well as the soft. I had a good second stint and the pace was back, but I couldn’t make the progress I needed. Under the VSC, the team called me in but I missed the entry.
"After that, I decided to stay out and try to hold track position to the end but in the closing laps, I was struggling massively with tyre degradation and lost three places, finishing P6, which doesn't reflect the pace we had in the car today."
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"A painful lesson today, but I take full responsibility for the decisions I made. Not every call will work out, and I can accept getting it wrong but I’m sorry for the team for the points we lost today," he concluded.
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