Lewis Hamilton urges FIA to ‘do a better job’ following Qatar GP investigation

Lewis Hamilton does not believe he was “singled out” by the FIA, after Formula 1’s governing body re-opened its investigation into him crossing the track in Qatar last time out.

The Mercedes driver was handed a €50,000 fine [€25,000 of which suspended for the rest of 2023] after crossing a live track to get back to the pit lane following his crash with George Russell on the first lap.

He subsequently apologised, but concerns were raised by some after the FIA decided to take a further look at the incident after already punishing the seven-time World Champion, with a statement put out bringing up his “role model” status in the sport.

Lewis Hamilton blames ‘poor communication’ from FIA over ‘singling out’ concerns

The FIA’s apparent about-face in conducting an investigation only to re-open it days later raised concerns that Hamilton was being deliberately singled out for his actions, with it being something of a first for a further investigation to take place because of a driver being a “role model” – and the wording of the FIA’s statement leaving open the possibility that Hamilton could be further punished on top of his hefty fine.

Hamilton himself does not believe that to be the case however, promptly shutting that notion down – but he did express his belief that it was poorly communicated from the FIA’s side, and called on them to “do a better job” from that point of view.

“No, I don’t think I was singled out,” Hamilton responded when asked about the FIA re-opening its investigation.

“Ultimately, I think it was just poor communication. I don’t think what they had said is exactly what they meant.

“I think what they mean is that they’re just going to look into how they can tackle those sorts of things moving forwards to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“I mean, I think there was a karting incident recently where a kid was hit, so we really need to make sure that we’re continuously focusing on safety and I think that’s really at the at the root of it, but I just think they probably need to speak to their PR agent to do a better job.”

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Hamilton had been due to meet with FIA representatives again in Austin after the incident, and he explained that the context of the meeting was more about how such an occurrence should not happen again in future, rather than looking to punish him further for what had already taken place.

“他们说我和他们的实际问题是,when I sat in the meeting in the stewards’ office, I’ve obviously put my hands up, in the heat of the moment, it was the wrong decision, and what’s important is to send the right message – particularly for the younger drivers through throughout the ages that that’s not the thing to do.

“I apologised at the time and I think they’ll just look into how to make sure that doesn’t happen moving forwards.”

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