Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari driver says ‘heartbroken’ after car hits mechanic at Belgian GP pit stop as team fines stewards | F1 News

Lewis Hamilton says his “heart really sank” when his Ferrari hit a mechanic in a pit-stop incident that led to the team being heavily fined by Belgian Grand Prix stewards.

Hamilton’s right-front tire hit the mechanic – who was unhurt – after giving the driver the green signal to leave the team’s pit box, briefly knocking the crew member, who was in front of the wheel trying to adjust the front wing, to his knee.

Hamilton immediately stopped his car as the mechanic was helped to his feet, before leaving the pit box.

The incident came under post-race stewards’ investigation with Ferrari later handed a €30,000 fine, of which €10,000 was suspended for one year.

Ferrari admitted an “inappropriately late command for wing adjustments, a lack of clear communication and the mechanic’s failure to notice the green light” in a “combination of complex and unusual circumstances” at a stop that initially handed Hamilton a five-second penalty before starting work on the car.

Through no fault of the driver, who the stewards said had anyway caused a “sporting disadvantage” because he was late leaving the pit stop, Hamilton retained his fourth place in the race.

The result moved Hamilton back to second in the drivers’ championship ahead of George Russell, with a 45-point deficit to race winner Kimi Antonelli at Spa-Francorchamps.

Speaking about the pit stop confusion after the race, Hamilton said his mind immediately returned to an incident at the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix when a botched Ferrari stop for Kimi Raikkonen left a mechanic, Francesco Sigarini, with a double leg fracture.

Hamilton was therefore relieved that the mechanic involved was not injured on Sunday, when he asked about him on team radio.

“The green light went and so I went,” Hamilton said Sky Sports F1.

“You’re looking here (to the left of the lights) you’re not looking there so in the end it’s probably on the team.

“But when it happened, I noticed him and I stopped and it went through my mind at that moment when Kimi hit and (a mechanic) broke a leg and my heart really sank for a second.

“I’m really thankful he’s okay.”

‘We could have been challenging for the win’ – Hamilton laments the result of his Saturday crash

Hamilton’s stop was already prolonged with the Ferrari crew first having to wait five seconds before starting to change the car’s tires as a time penalty was served for a collision with Russell at Les Combes on the opening lap.

The collision knocked Russell out of the race, although the Mercedes driver later blamed his own car’s straight-line speed problems rather than former teammate Hamilton’s for the incident at the end of the long Kemmel Straight.

Hamilton also chose not to focus on the specifics of the collision in his post-race interview, instead blaming his failure to qualify higher than sixth, which became fifth on the grid due to Lando Norris’ engine penalty after crashing in Saturday’s final practice session.

“I don’t consider myself (being) unlucky, I think about the mistake I made yesterday, so I really take full responsibility for the fourth place I got,” he said.

“I damaged the car then when they rebuilt the car they missed something in the suspension so the balance was completely different so it meant I was probably a good couple of tenths – maybe three tenths – slower than I qualified.

“Then I went further back, got the incident. Five second penalty, so like a domino effect from one mistake on its own.

“But the team is doing a great job with the strategy, the pit stops. We are continuing to improve the car. I think today with our pace, if not for the damage, we could have been challenging for the win.”

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