Mercedes was fined €15.000 after Lewis Hamilton almost caused Williams’ Logan Sargeant to crash in FP2.
Hamilton almost caused a nasty crash in the afternoon session when he impeded Sargeant who was on a flying lap and had to do an evasive maneuver to avoid the Britton.
The seven-time world champion was already trying to avoid the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz when he found himself directly ahead of Sargeant, who was coming really fast. The American managed to avoid the Mercedes, but almost risked crashing due to his speed.
The FIA announced they would investigate the matter after the session, and after having heard both drivers, the stewards came to the conclusion of fining Mercedes as the team didn’t inform Hamilton that Sargeant was coming. The Britton only received a warning.
“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton), the driver of Car 2 (Logan Sargeant), team representatives and reviewed positioning/marshaling system data, video, team radio, and in-car video evidence and determine that Car 44 impeded Car 2 at Turn 11.
“As a result, Car 2 had to take evasive action by going off the track to avoid a collision. Had that not been done, there would have been a serious, high-speed crash.
“Having listened to the team radio, it was clear to us that the team of Car 44 failed to warn their driver of the fact that Car 2 was arriving on a fast lap.
“That was a serious failure on the part of the team, particularly given the speeds on this circuit and the nature of turn 11, which is at the end of a series of high-speed corners where driver visibility is impaired.
“We therefore issue a warning to the driver and impose a fine of €15,000 to the team.”