Lewis Hamilton faces a potential grid penalty after being summoned to the stewards for multiple incidents during FP3.
It hasn’t been the smoothest of practice sessions for Hamilton in Jeddah. The Mercedes driver went through a series of incidents and has now been summoned to the stewards for the same.
He has been called over to the FIA’s office for alleged failure to respect double waved yellow flags during FP3. This hearing will take place before the crucial Qualifying session on Saturday evening.
When Hamilton was on his cooldown lap, he narrowly avoided contacting Pierre Gasly and Nikita Mazepin.
Tinpot:
Gasly and Mazepin just deliberately forced Sir Lewis Hamilton off track out of nothing more than frustration and anger at being briefly inconvenienced. pic.twitter.com/1mA1N5Yo7X— karabogaf1 (@karabogaf1) December 4, 2021
Gasly was just behind Hamilton going into turn 1 when the latter slowed down without giving the Alpha Tauri driver any space. He had to go off track to avoid making contact with the Mercedes.
“It’s not something you expect a 7-time World Champion to do”. Sky Sports commentator David Croft said immediately following the incident. “That was a totally rookie mistake from Lewis.”
Also read: Sergio Perez expects qualifying to be the deciding factor in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Mercedes radio goof-up almost leads to Lewis Hamilton crashing with Mazepin
Later on the very same lap, the W12 of Hamilton was inches away from colliding with Mazepin’s Haas. This happened at turn 8, which is in a fast and twisty part of the circuit.
The Russian driver came across Hamilton in front of him while on his flying lap. It was a blind corner, and the young Haas driver had no idea that a car was in front of him.
The stewards have issued a further summons to Hamilton regarding the Mazepin incident
More details below#SaudiArabianGP 🇸🇦 #F1 https://t.co/ZjyVvhwLYJ
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 4, 2021
Thankfully for both drivers, Mazepin could cut the corner and avoid a nasty crash. In a first this season, Haas were quick to use the FIA radio channel and asked for director Michael Masi’s input on the incident. Masi admitted that it wasn’t great and that he would deal with Mercedes directly.
That‘s a first#SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/rmbWNcYjwt
— tami. (@Vetteleclerc) December 4, 2021
If found guilty, the Briton faces a potential grid penalty for Sunday’s race which could have a considerable outcome on his Championship battle with Max Verstappen.
Also read: Mercedes boss Toto Wolff’s worrying outlook on the championship heading into Saudi Arabia
