Hamilton penalized, Leclerc not
The two Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were involved in two controversial incidents during the Belgian Grand Prix, and both were investigated by the Race Stewards.
Lewis Hamilton was judged entirely guilty of the contact that put George Russell out of the race and was penalized by 5″. The standard penalty should have been 10″, but the Ferrari driver was granted leniency for attempting to avoid the collision and for losing grip.
Immediately after the race, Frederic Vasseur highlighted the difference in views on the assessment given by the Stewards.
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Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, was acquitted for the contact with Oscar Piastri – which fortunately had no consequences for either of them.
The Monegasque was recognized as not having deliberately pushed his opponent off track and therefore was able to finish the race without any penalty.
Drivers confused
What happened generated some confusion among the drivers themselves, given that, for example, George Russell – director of the drivers’ association – was the first to be surprised by the penalty assigned to Hamilton. The Mercedes driver emphasized that theirs was a normal racing incident, caused upstream by the power delivery problems his car experienced during the first lap.
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PlanetF1.com revealed that the drivers will meet with the FIA during the Budapest weekend to discuss procedures and guidelines on overtaking. Several of them have indeed expressed doubts about the decisions made, which are apparently not consistent with the International Sporting Code and the Driving Standards Guidelines.
The last specific discussion on the topic between the FIA and the drivers took place at the 2025 Qatar GP. The Budapest meeting is a scheduled one, but it comes at just the right time to clarify what happened at Spa with Hamilton and Leclerc
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