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BREAKING: Lewis Hamilton receives grid penalty in Austria!
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Lewis Hamilton has been awarded a grid penalty ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, with the reigning champion receiving a three-place penalty as well as a penalty point on his licence, dropping him to fourth behind teammate Valtteri Bottas.
*UPDATE*: Hamilton will start from P4, not P5, because Kevin Magnussen's penalty was awarded beforehand and Lando Norris (qualified in P6) only profits from that.
The stewards immediately flagged up they would start investigating the incident as soon as it happened. Kimi Raikkonen, who was on a hot lap in Q1, was planning on passing the slow Hamilton on the run up to T3. However, the Brit was on the inside line and couldn’t slow down enough for Raikkonen to pass before the bend.
Raikkonen had to take evasive action and blow off his flying lap, sticking up a middle finger at Hamilton as he drove past.
Fans immediately compared the situation to last season, when Sebastian Vettel did a very similar thing to Carlos Sainz during qualifying at the Red Bull Ring, and the German got penalised for it at the time.
Almost two hours after qualifying, the stewards confirmed their decision of dropping Hamilton three places down the grid.
Originally qualifying in second, the 34-year-old Hamilton now drops to fifth, behind McLaren's Norris, moving Max Verstappen up to the first starting row next to pole sitter Charles Leclerc.
With Vettel starting in ninth and Hamilton in fifth, how will the two drivers get on?