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FIA race director Michael Masi says the Russian GP stewards decided the original Formula 1 penalty points awarded to Lewis Hamilton were “inappropriate” after a post-race review.
Hamilton received two five-second penalties for making two practice starts outside of the designated zone beyond the pit exit, both of which came with an additional penalty point for their license.
That put him at 10 penalty points over the current 12-month period, with two more incurred before the Turkish GP automatically prompting a race ban.
However, after the race, the stewards spoke with Hamilton and the Mercedes team and decided to waive the original point penalties imposed.
Instead, the FIA fined the team € 25,000 on the basis that the driver had been told he could use that spot for starts.
“The stewards after the race listened to the team and the driver of car 44,” Masi said.
“Lewis and Mercedes spoke to the stewards, at which point it was actually a team briefing for Lewis where he could take practice runs.
“On that basis, the stewards have just rescinded the penalty points in both decisions, because they thought it was inappropriate, and as a result, they have fined the team 25,000 euros for that instruction.
“Indeed, yes, he was the one who was driving the car.
“One contributing factor, however, was that his team instructed him to do so at that time, and therefore they saw fit to revise his decision accordingly.”
Masi explained that the pilots understood where the training start zone was and it was detailed in the event notes distributed before the grand prix weekend.
“The practice start location is obviously very circuit specific and is detailed in the event notes.
“So in all the other events, Lewis, along with all the other drivers, has fulfilled the requirements of where they do a practice start according to the instructions of the race director.
“I would say that the reason we determine where the practice start location is is for the safety of all drivers. Everyone is aware of what is really going on. Therefore, we determine their location for a deliberate reason. .
“In general, we don’t actually paint a box, we just specify the location and we’ve done that even before my time as I understand it. It’s very much a circuit specific element of where it is. I think today was just a simple mistake from that perspective. “
After Hamilton’s suggestion that the FIA was “trying to stop me,” Masi said he was always available to speak to the six-time champion and voice any complaints.
“From my perspective, it’s very simple that if Lewis wants to raise something, as I have told him before and I have told all the drivers, many times the door is always open, and I am more than happy to discuss anything.
“But I think from the perspective of the FIA, we are there as a sports regulator, to administer the regulations.
“We have the commissioners as an independent judiciary to adjudicate them, and therefore there was a violation and it does not matter if it was Lewis Hamilton or any other of the 19 drivers.”
“If there has been a breach of the regulations, they will consider it on its merits, they will judge it fairly and fairly in the circumstances, taking into account all the key elements.”
