SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium : Lewis Hamilton was cleared of any wrongdoing after his Ferrari struck and knocked over a mechanic during a botched pit stop at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, with Formula One stewards instead blaming the team for an unsafe release.
Hamilton, who had been serving a five-second penalty for an earlier collision with Mercedes’ George Russell, had requested a front wing adjustment during the stop.
As a mechanic stepped in to make the adjustment, the tyre change was completed, the car was lowered and the green release light was activated. Hamilton pulled away, with the front wheel knocking the mechanic to the ground.
After a hearing, the stewards said Ferrari had accepted responsibility, attributing the incident to “an inappropriately late instruction for the wing adjustment, a lack of clear communication and the mechanic’s failure to notice the green light.”
Ferrari were fined 30,000 euros ($35,000), with 10,000 euros suspended for 12 months.
Hamilton escaped any sanction after the stewards ruled he “was in no respect at fault”, noting that he immediately stopped the car after realising the mechanic was in danger.
“I am just grateful my mechanic didn’t get hurt,” Hamilton, who finished fourth and remains second in the drivers’ championship behind Mercedes’ race winner Kimi Antonelli, told reporters.
“I am looking at the lights, and I am supposed to go when the car is dropping. And I went, and then I saw him to my right and stopped as soon as I could.
“All I could think about at the time is when Kimi (Raikkonen) did a leg, and that is what I thought had happened initially, but he got up and moved.”
Hamilton was referring to a similar incident at the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix, when Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen was released before a rear tyre had been fitted, striking a mechanic who suffered fractures to both legs.
