© Sam Bloxham for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Lewis Hamilton says his collision with Sergio Perez “felt like a racing incident”, and adds “we don’t want to be deterred from racing”.
In the Belgian Grand Prix Sprint Race, Lewis Hamilton was attempting to overtake Sergio Perez, and the two drivers collided.
Although the general opinion is that this was a racing incident, the FIA decided to hand Lewis a five-second penalty. This means that he dropped from P4, where he originally finished, to P7.
“Afterwards he gave his opinion of the incident and the penalty.
“It was a racing incident I think,” Lewis said.
“I tried to go up the inside. It’s tricky conditions out there, we are all trying our best.
“Of course, it wasn’t intentional. I went for a gap, he was going slow through [Turn] 14, I went up the inside, more than half a car length up the inside.
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“And if you are not going for a gap, you are no longer racing, as Ayrton once said. That’s what I did.
“When I watched it back, it felt like a racing incident to me. We don’t want to be deterred from racing.”
However, Lewis ultimately said that he is not bothered by the penalty.
“In a race like this, I don’t really care too much. You don’t get many points. It would have been nice to finish fourth but I don’t care, I want to win.
“Fourth and seventh, it doesn’t make a difference,” Hamilton concluded.
