Hamilton acquitted, Ferrari ‘condemned’
First the scare, then the relief, finally the danger averted. Lewis Hamilton kept the fourth place in the final result of the Belgian GP that he had obtained under the checkered flag. The stewards ultimately decided not to penalize the English driver for the unsafe release committed by Ferrari during the seven-time world champion’s pit stop. When restarting, Hamilton had unintentionally hit a team mechanic who had inadvertently found himself in front of car #44 at the moment it was given the green light to go. Obviously, the most important news of the day is that the mechanic who was hit is fine.
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Maranello, on the other hand, received a hefty fine of 30,000 euros, of which 10,000 are suspended on probation. The stewards, given the danger of what happened in the pit lane, issued a very specific statement in which they reconstructed the event, explaining in detail the reasons for the sanction imposed on Ferrari and also justifying the lack of penalty against Hamilton.
New document: Doc 63 – Infringement – Ferrari – Unsafe Release of Car 44
Published on 19.07.26 18:50 CET#F1 #Formula1 #FIA #BelgianGP 🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/P4pjhieDKL— FIA F1 Documents Bot (@fiadocsbot) July 19, 2026
The stewards’ statement
Below is the full translation of the FIA statement.
Decision
The competitor (Scuderia Ferrari HP) is fined €30,000, of which €10,000 are suspended for 12 months on the condition that the Competitor does not commit a similar infraction in the meantime and on the further condition that, within 14 days, the Competitor submits to the FIA a report regarding the incident and the protocols introduced to mitigate the risk of a similar event recurring in the future.
Reasoning
The Sporting Commissioners heard the team representative and reviewed video evidence. While car 44 was being released from its pit box, a mechanic moved into the path of the right front tire as the F1 car advanced. The mechanic fell but was not injured.
The team explained that the incident occurred in the context of a complex and unusual combination of circumstances. HAM had been given a 5-second time penalty for a driving infraction, which had to be served before work could begin on the F1 car. LEC was in his pit box when HAM entered the pit lane. HAM told his engineer he wanted a front wing adjustment, but this was not communicated to the “super controller.” HAM arrived at his pit box, served the time penalty, and at the end of the 5 seconds a team member announced “Go” and then “0.6 degrees,” where the first was an instruction to start the pit stop and the second an instruction for the wing adjustment. The tire change was completed, the jack mechanic lowered the car, and the “super controller” activated the green light signal to allow car 44 to leave. Just as the driver moved, another mechanic with a front wing tool moved forward into the path of the right front tire. Before stepping forward, he was looking down at the tool and did not see the green light.
The team acknowledged that releasing car 44 under these circumstances was unsafe and attributed the error to an inappropriately late instruction for the wing adjustment, a lack of clear communication, and the mechanic’s failure to notice the green light. The team committed to reviewing its pit stop procedures to ensure a similar incident does not recur.
The Sporting Commissioners determined that the driver was not at fault. Indeed, the driver realized what had happened as soon as he started moving and immediately stopped until the mechanic moved away. Far from resulting in a sporting advantage, the incident caused a sporting disadvantage for car 44, which was delayed in its pit stop. Given the circumstances, the incident did not justify a sporting penalty but did justify a significant fine for the Competitor, considering that procedural failures of this nature compromise mechanic safety.
The Sporting Commissioners took into account the unusual combination of circumstances that contributed to the confusion within the team – circumstances that would not fall within the team’s usual case history. For this reason, the Commissioners decided to suspend part of the fine, but on the condition that the team reviews its procedures and submits a report to the FIA outlining corrective measures to be adopted.
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