© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll have both been summoned to the stewards after their incident and collision in Spanish Grand Prix FP3. Toto Wolff defends his driver.
Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll are among several drivers who are under investigation in after Spanish Grand Prix Free Practice 3.
Lewis impeded Stroll on the entry to Turn 5, but on the exit, after he moved out of the way and was waving to apologize, the Canadian driver forced him wide and ran into the Briton, seemingly on purpose.
After the session, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has defended his driver in this situation.
“I kind of understand in the heat of the moment, sometimes you’re on your fast lap and you’re being blocked,” Wolff said.
“But it’s never the driver’s fault. They’re getting the instructions from the garage about the traffic situation and nobody does it on purpose because you know you can get a penalty.”
Wolff then explained how drivers communicate with their engineers during their cooldown laps.
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“They get the warning. It’s literally counting down the seconds. Ten seconds behind, five, four, three, and then they move over.
“But sometimes there’s so much communication flying left, right and centre that an engineer might simply not see early enough or the driver might be on some switch changes.
“But I guess no one wants to screw anybody’s lap. I’m amazed that we don’t have proper accidents in qualifying when everybody’s flat out.
“Our engineers are constantly on the radio and saying be careful. There’s no intention.
“I don’t want to [jinx] it but this is an accident waiting to happen,” the Austrian concluded.
UPDATE: The stewards have handed a reprimand to Lance Stroll. Here is the full text of the verdict.
“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 18 (Lance Stroll), the driver of Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton), team representatives and reviewed video and in-car video as well as team radio evidence,” the verdict read.
“The driver of Car 18 stated that he got impeded by Car 44 into Turn 5 and that upset him. He admitted that he wanted to express his displeasure to the other driver by pulling over on him at the exit.
“Both cars made slight contact which was incidental. However, the Stewards consider the move made by Car 18, whilst not being dangerous, to be erratic and therefore issue a driving reprimand in line with precedents.
“Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Chapter 4 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, within the applicable time limits.
“Decisions of the Stewards are taken independently of the FIA and are based solely on the relevant regulations, guidelines and evidence presented,” the verdict concluded.
