Hamilton gets reprimand and fine for crossing live track

The seven-time world champion was seen walking across the track to return to the pit lane after his car was left stricken in the gravel following a first corner, opening lap crash with Mercedes teammate George Russell. 

Hamilton received his first non-driving reprimand of the season and was also fined €50,000, half of which is suspended for the rest of 2023 providing there is no repeat offence of a similar nature, for the incident. 

The stewards noted that Hamilton was “very apologetic” and acknowledged his actions were potentially dangerous.

“After crashing out of the race in Lap 1, the driver of Car 44 abandoned his car in the gravel and ran back to the pits. He thereby crossed the track that was live at this time and reached the inside edge of the track just seconds before Car 63 arrived at high speed after exiting the pits. He then continued to walk alongside the track until finally exiting the track,” the stewards noted. 

“During the hearing the driver of Car 44 was very apologetic and realised that the situation could have been very dangerous for him as well as the drivers approaching.

“The Stewards reinforced the fact that crossing a live track can cause extremely dangerous situations and the drivers have to be very cautious about it.

“In addition to imposing a significant fine (which is suspended in parts), the Stewards also reprimand the driver bearing in mind that receiving a certain number of reprimands during a season will draw a significant driving penalty in accordance with Article 18.2 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.”

The stewards decided to take no further action against Hamilton for his collision with Russell, despite deeming that he was “predominantly at fault”. 

“Cars 44, 63 and 1 entered Turn 1 three-wide with Car 44 trying to make a move on Car 63 around the outside. When turning in, the rear-right wheel of Car 44 made contact with the front left edge of Car 63, causing Car 44 to spin off track. Car 63 also spun but was able to continue the race after that,” they said. 

“Whilst the argument can be made that Car 44 was predominantly at fault, the Stewards, taking into account that the incident happened in Lap 1 and several cars were involved, determine that the incident is considered as a typical “Lap 1, Turn 1” incident and no driver is wholly at fault. Therefore no further action is taken.”