The British pilot Lewis hamilton (Mercedes) was sanctioned for an irregularity in his car and will have to start last in the qualifying sprint race of the Brazilian Grand Prix this Saturday, a blow in his fight for the title of the Formula One.
“Lewis Hamilton has been disqualified from Friday’s qualifying session for a technical infraction related to the DRS system,” Formula One said on Twitter.
The seven-time world champion was supposed to start in the first position, after dominating the qualifying on Friday, but the stewards found irregularities in the movable rear wing (DRS) of his car, a part that reduces the downforce so that the vehicle gains more. speed.
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His rival in the fight for the title, the leader Max verstappen (Red Bull), will start first in the sprint race this Saturday in Sao Paulo, while at his side will be Hamilton’s teammate, the Finn Valtteri Bottas.
After hours of consultation and investigation, which began on Friday, the race authorities chose to penalize the Briton in the qualifying race, which defines the starting positions for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
The penalty can be deadly to the aspirations of Hamilton, 36, to cut the gap to Verstappen, who is 19 points ahead of him with four valid points to go.
In addition to starting last, the seven-time world champion will have to overcome the penalty of five places for the start of the Big prize Sunday, imposed because it changed the engine, exceeding the authorized quota per season.
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For its part, VerstappenThe 24-year-old seeking his first F1 title was fined € 50,000 for touching the rear wing of his main rival’s car with his hands at the end of qualifying on Friday.
“This general trend (among drivers) has been considered harmless and, therefore, has not been subject to sanctions so far,” explained the race commissioners in their decision.
“However, this is a violation of the regulations, which can potentially cause significant damage” to the cars, they add, although they consider that “in this case no direct damage was caused” to the Mercedes car.
The 4,309 kilometer sprint race of the Interlagos circuit – 24 laps or 30 minutes – will be the third and last of the season, after Great Britain in July and Italy in September.
In addition to defining the starting order, this modality distributes between three and one point.
