Breaking news
Formula 1 Russian GP
Hamilton two points from race ban after Russia penalties
Lewis Hamilton is just one incident away from a Formula 1 race ban after picking up two more penalty points on Sunday in Russia.
Luke Smith
Edited: Sep 27, 2020, 3:49 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Hamilton was handed two five-second time penalties during the Russian Grand Prix after he was found to have breached the FIA's pre-race instructions regarding practice starts.
Hamilton completed two illegal practice starts, including one at the very end of the pitlane exit road, that went against Michael Masi's instructions issued earlier this week.
He had been informed by Mercedes engineer Pete Bonnington that he could complete a second practice start at the end of the pit exit road.
It left Hamilton with two five-second penalties, one per violation, with two separate sanctions being issued by the FIA stewards during the race.
Hamilton served his 10-second time penalty at his pit stop during the race in Russia, but was left fuming by the ruling, calling it "ridiculous" and "bulls**t".
In the penalty bulletin, the stewards confirmed that Hamilton had been given one penalty on his FIA super licence for each incident.
This takes Hamilton to 10 points for a 12-month period, leaving him just two penalty points shy of a one-race ban.
Hamilton is not due to drop any penalty points until after the Turkish Grand Prix, which will mark 12 months since he picked up two for his late collision with Alexander Albon at in Brazil.
Hamilton received four penalty points over the Austrian Grand Prix weekend earlier this year - two for ignoring yellow flags in qualifying, and two for another late-race incident with Albon - and two more for entering the pit lane while it was closed at the Italian Grand Prix.
The FIA introduced the new guidelines for the 2014 season, but no driver has hit 12 points and received a ban in F1.
The last ban awarded in F1 came in 2012 when Romain Grosjean was forced to sit out the Italian Grand Prix after causing a start-line crash at Spa.
The penalty points system is also used in F2, where MP Motorsport driver Mahaveer Raghunathan was banned for one round last year after he hit the limit of 12.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Hamilton under investigation for pre-race practice start
Next article 2020 F1 Russian Grand Prix race results
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Luke Smith
1998 Belgian GP: When the Schumachers went to war
Formula 1
Formula 1
1998 Belgian GP: When the Schumachers went to war
The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull
Formula 1
Formula 1
The race that transformed perceptions of Red Bull
Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie
Formula 1
Formula 1
Hamilton in the process of selecting Brad Pitt’s co-star for F1 movie
More from
Lewis Hamilton
Max Verstappen on Ferrari clashes: "I would never sign two number-one drivers"
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
5 h
Max Verstappen on Ferrari clashes: "I would never sign two number-one drivers"
What the Brazilian GP revealed about F1's ability to cope with rain
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
What the Brazilian GP revealed about F1's ability to cope with rain
Latest news
Argentina set to make WRC comeback in 2028
WRC
WRC WRC 18 min
Argentina set to make WRC comeback in 2028
The impressive stats underpinning Liam Lawson's career-saving F1 season
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 h
The impressive stats underpinning Liam Lawson's career-saving F1 season
George Russell launches karting academy
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
2 h
George Russell launches karting academy
Liam Lawson retained by Racing Bulls for 2027 alongside Arvid Lindblad
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
3 h
Liam Lawson retained by Racing Bulls for 2027 alongside Arvid Lindblad
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe