Brundle questions “harsh” Hamilton penalty: “What can he do?”

On Lap 6 of the sprint, Hamilton understeered slightly into the side of Perez’s car when attempting to overtake him.

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The contact gave Perez significant sidepod damage which forced him out of the race after he plummeted down the order.

The penalty dropped Hamilton from fourth into seventh for the final classification. 

Giving his thoughts on the incident, Brundle said: “I thought it was a racing incident. I thought the penalty was harsh. I’ll stand by that.

“Lewis had claimed the corner. There was an error in the corner before by Perez. [Hamilton] was on the inside. Yes, the car did understeer a little bit.

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“What is racing? If that’s not racing, and therefore a racing incident, then I don’t know. It wasn’t Lewis launching an impossible move. He was on the inside of the corner.

“It did take Checo out of the race so we have to consider that. And it was definitely the Mercedes sliding left rather than the Red Bull pinching him.

“So I understand what the stewards have done. But I would want to call that a racing incident because Lewis can’t disappear in that moment. He claimed the corner. What can he do?”

Naomi Schiff seemed to side with Brundle, stating it wasn’t “deliberate” from Hamilton.

“I feel for Perez because he’s had a poor run of form, he’s really trying to get it right, and each time it goes wrong it will build frustration,” he added.

“But we want to see these drivers racing. The move was on. He was side-by-side. In tricky conditions the grip levels in the corners are not very high. Lewis was as much of a passenger in that situation. I don’t think it was deliberate.”