Lewis Hamilton Quotes Ayrton Senna to Defend Himself Against Brutal 5-Second Penalty for Going for the Gap

The Belgian GP Sprint turned out to be a race full of talking points, the biggest of them being the collision between Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez and the resulting five-second penalty given to the Mercedes driver. Hamilton does not believe the penalty was fair and quoted the great Ayrton Senna to back up his claims.

The incident unfolded on lap 6 when Hamilton and Perez went side-by-side through the long right-hander of turn 15. Midway through the corner, Hamilton understeered into Perez and damaged his sidepod. The damage caused Perez to retire from the race, and Hamilton received his penalty.

🎥: The view from Lewis Hamilton’s onboard on the incident with Sergio Perez#F1 #BelgianGP

pic.twitter.com/jlWhFs2SVw

— F1 Naija 🇳🇬 (@f1_naija) July 29, 2023

As per Hamilton, it was nothing more than a racing incident. But from Perez’s perspective, things were extremely different. Perez told Sky Sports after the race that Hamilton completely barged into him and damaged his car, which ruined his race.

Lewis Hamilton is a believer in Senna’s greatest quote

Like many F1 drivers, Hamilton also sees the Great Ayrton Senna as one of his idols. Hamilton has been quite vocal about the fact that he takes inspiration from the Brazilian legend and even made a wish during Senna’s birthday, saying, “Congratulations, Ayrton, my inspiration always.”

“Being a racing driver means you are racing with other people and if you no longer go for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver because we are competing. We are competing to win.”
Ayrton Senna. pic.twitter.com/sl4uW3uctE

— Ayrton Senna Tribute (@F1_AyrtonSenna) July 28, 2023

Hamilton used one of Senna’s most famous quotes to defend his move on Perez. He said, “I was more than half a car up the inside and if you’re not going for a gap then you’re no longer racing, as Ayrton [Senna] always said. So that’s what I did.”

#BelgianGP 🇧🇪: Lewis Hamilton on Perez: “He was slow going through [Turn] 14, I was more than half a car up the inside and if you’re not going for a gap then you’re no longer racing, as Ayrton [Senna] always said. So that’s what I did.”

— deni (@fiagirly) July 29, 2023

Team principal Toto Wolff also took Hamilton’s side and said that it was nothing more than a racing incident. However, he also explained that he won’t be protesting the penalty. Wolff said that since it has already been decided, it’s better if they just move on from it.

Hamilton’s Super License was also affected by the collision

The five-second time penalty wasn’t the only punishment that Hamilton was handed. The British driver also received two penalty points on his super license.

#BelgianGP 🇧🇪: Lewis Hamilton got a 5s penalty AND 2 penalty points on his super licence for that little collision with Perez. 😁😁😁 pic.twitter.com/HkHdKiB6yN

— deni (@fiagirly) July 29, 2023

Hamilton currently only has these two points on his super license. Hamilton will be subjected to a ban for one race if he conjures up another 10 penalty points within a 12-month window.