Mercedes and FIA criticised for response to ‘horrendous’ Lewis Hamilton incident

Formula 1 fans on social media were not amused when Sir Lewis Hamilton was forced to get a fire extinguisher on his own at the Belgian Grand Prix.



The seven-time champion had started the race fourth behind Fernando Alonso, and he got ahead of him on the opening lap.



The 41-year-old, however, got into the slipstream of his former McLaren team-mate on the way down the Kemmel Straight into Les Combes.



The Spaniard got down the inside of Hamilton before, unsighted, the 37-year-old turned in, resulting in contact.







READ: Lewis Hamilton likely to take penalty at Monza rather than Dutch GP



Hamilton was launched up into the air, and his car came down violently, damaging the back end, and ultimately forcing him to retire from the race later on in the lap.



Mercedes measured their driver’s impact at 45G, and such force necessitates a medical check-up, according to the sporting regulations.



“If, after an incident, the Medical Warning Light signals that threshold forces have been exceeded the driver must be examined by the Event medical service without delay, the Medical Delegate will determine the most appropriate place for this examination,” reads Article 26.14 of the sporting regulations.



However, if there is a fire developing in the car, the FIA international sporting code asserts that marshals must “assist with the extinguishing of the fire” – no one was on hand to help Hamilton when he eventually stopped his car.



Having put the fire out, the Briton, technically, should have reported to the medical centre for a check-up, but he refused this, and chose to walk back to the paddock instead.



The interesting question there is whether the medical car would have made its way round to Hamilton after he stopped at Blanchimont, had he decided to wait at a marshal’s post and wait for it.



However, the fact that no marshals guided or provided any assistance to Hamilton is what got on many fans’ nerves.



Some, however, disagreed, affirming that it was the 103-time race winner’s prerogative to comply with the rules and accept medical assistance.




The Formula 1 regulations say that the Medical Warning system is there to “give rescue crews an immediate indication of accident severity,” and the light comes on if impact force is greater than 18 g. So why didn’t anyone “immediately” made their way to Lewis Hamilton ???? — deni (@fiagirly) August 31, 2022





Because he got out of the car himself under his own power. Then began extinguishing a fire inside the W13. Oh and he refused the mandatory medical check up after the 45g impact. So you should probably direct that question to Lewis himself… https://t.co/oJwgqMARX7 — Jeff Lund (@redsoxboy80) August 31, 2022





That’s a question for @MercedesAMGF1 and Toto Wolf, why after that horrendous incident LH was not told to stop the car ?? Maybe because they don’t care? The medical car can’t just turn the lights and go after the 44 car and stop it. So it’s a team issue that should be questioned. — R. Mauricio Pérez (@romapepo) August 31, 2022





So Merc just reported 45G impact from the incident – surely this would have warranted the attention of the medical car and a couple of marshals ! Guess the track is so vast they couldn’t find Sir Lewis — Giselle Mitton (@mitton_giselle) August 31, 2022




READ: Lewis Hamilton sends cheeky message to Fernando Alonso after rant



Alonso labelled Hamilton an “idiot” for the crash, while the Mercedes driver accepted that the incident was his fault in the media pen.



Once he had calmed down, the double world champion acknowledged that it was an easy mistake to make on the opening lap of the race.



The stewards briefly investigated the collision, and found that neither driver was at fault.
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