Lewis Hamilton Receives Three-Place Grid Penalty for Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix

In the latest Formula 1 news, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has been handed a three-place grid penalty for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix after impeding Sergio Perez during qualifying. This decision comes as a significant blow to Hamilton’s chances, demoting him from 12th to 15th on the starting grid.

The incident in question occurred during Q1, when Perez approached Hamilton at the slow right-hander of Turn 9. Although Hamilton remained on the outside of the corner, Perez was forced to lift off the throttle to avoid a collision. An frustrated Perez was heard shouting “What the **** is this idiot doing?” over his team radio, while Hamilton believed he was “well out of his way”.

“That was unfortunate, I think it was just wrong time, wrong moment. Lewis was on the racing line, so there was nothing I could do other than fitting another set [of tyres], which was very costly then in Q3.” – Sergio Perez

However, the stewards disagreed with Hamilton’s assessment, ruling that he had impeded Perez unnecessarily. In their verdict, they stated that “the driver of car 44 [Hamilton], being on an in-lap, was informed by the team that car 11 was approaching on a fast lap when he entered Turn 8. He then drove off line at the exit of Turn 8 with the intention to give way for Car 11. However, when Car 11 arrived, Car 44 had already entered Turn 9 and drove back towards the racing line at the exit of Turn 9, thereby clearly impeding Car 11.”

As a result, Hamilton will start the Dutch Grand Prix from 15th position, making it an uphill battle to secure a strong finish. Speaking before the penalty, Hamilton expressed his frustration, feeling that his weekend was already lost due to starting outside the top 10 on the challenging Zandvoort circuit.

“It just went downhill like a domino effect from the moment with Checo. And then the balance just got more and more snappy, more and more oversteery. And, yeah, it was terrible. It’s definitely very, very frustrating, naturally, but it’s is what it is. That’s kind of the weekend done and can move on to next week.”

The incident also had a significant impact on Perez’s qualifying, as he was forced to use an extra set of tyres to advance to Q2, which ultimately left him without sufficient tyres for the deciding Q3 shootout.

Stay tuned for more Formula 1 news, Formula 1 qualifying updates, and Formula 1 standings as the Dutch Grand Prix unfolds.

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