No further action against Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel after summons

Two ex-Formula 1 World Champions visited the stewards as Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel were summoned after first practice at Zandvoort.

Hamilton and Vettel were both called before the stewards at the Dutch Grand Prix with each summoned on the grounds of blocking during the first practice session.

Hamilton was called up for allegedly blocking Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz at Turns 12 and 13 with just over 10 minutes remaining in FP1, while Sainz was summoned up to explain the incident from his perspective.

Vettel had an incident with McLaren’s Lando Norris in which the four-time former champion held up the British driver at the same corner – Norris responding in frustration as he threw his car up the inside of the Aston Martin. He radioed in to say “is this guy silly, or..?”

Both drivers were called up to visit the stewards before second practice got under way. After deliberations, the stewards ruled no further action was required for either incident.

Addressing the Hamilton/Sainz incident, the stewards said: “During the hearing, both drivers and team representatives recognised it is well understood impeding during free practice should be looked at in a more lenient way by the stewards unless it is a dangerous manoeuvre.

“Both drivers also highlighted the configuration of the track is propitious for impeding and that [Sainz] was not significantly impacted by the action. Therefore, the stewards decided to take no further action.”

Hamilton finished thefirst practice session in second place, a quarter of a second off the pace set by his Mercedes team-mateGeorge Russell, while Vettel ended the first hour down in 15th.