Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Interlagos, 2019

Hamilton given five-second time penalty for Albon collision, Sainz promoted to third

2019 Brazilian Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton has lost his third place finish in the Brazilian Grand Prix for his collision with Alexander Albon.

The stewards handed the Mercedes driver a five-second time penalty which drops him from third place to seventh in the race classification.

Carlos Sainz Jnr, who finished fourth on the road, is promoted to third place. Kimi Raikkonen takes fourth place for Alfa Romeo ahead of team mate Antonio Giovinazzi, and Daniel Ricciardo takes sixth for Renault.

The stewards held Hamilton primarily to blame for the collision and handed him two penalty points on his licence.

“Car 23 [Albon] was on his normal race line,” noted the stewards. “Car 44 [Hamilton] attempted to pass on the inside, but was unable to get far enough inside to accomplish the overtake and by the time he realised there would not be sufficient room he was unable to back out of the situation and the collision followed.

“The stewards determined that car 44 [was] predominantly at fault for the collision with car 23 at turn 10 and therefore ordered a five second penalty.”

Hamilton accepted responsibility for the collision after the race and apologised to Albon for the collision. The Red Bull driver was running in second place when they collided on the penultimate lap of the race, and on course for the best result of his career, but finished out of the points following their clash.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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76 comments on “Hamilton given five-second time penalty for Albon collision, Sainz promoted to third”

  1. Don’t know if I am elated for McLaren podium or disappointed for the late decision meant Sainz was not there…

    1. Definitely, they could have resolved it quickly. No hard feelings towards Hamilton, but the stewards in Sao Paolo spoiled the experience for the whole team and thousands of fans.

      1. @pironitheprovocateur Given Hamilton seemed quick to take the blame himself, i doubt even he’d assume bad feelings, and might well agree Sainz should have been able to stand up there as we’d all feel.

        Hm wasn’t McLaren’s last podium also like that, with Riccardo being disqualified after the podium, in Australia 2014 and Magnussen inheriting? Curious if so.

        1. It was a bit different. Magnussen finished third on merit, but after Ricciardo´s disqulification it was Button who inherited Magnussen´s third. Double podium for McLaren then.

    2. yeah, it is not cool to delay investigations into the top three like that, especially with a clear precedent like here (ricciardo-magnjssen).

      1. Right indeed @mrboerns, wasn’t that McLaren’s last previous to today? And we had the whole discussion with the two podiums where Verstappen’s on/not on it also only came after the ceremony too.

        Today seems too clear cut a penalty to not just get it right.

  2. Well, that can’t be helped.

    Glad Lewis took the responsibility right after the finish.

    1. I truly do feel for Alex. After watching him improve so much and perform so much better than Gasly, I think he deserved the second place today. Every time red bull seem to be in for a 1 – 2, something goes wrong. A very exiting race but dissapointing in ways.

  3. First McLaren podium since Australia 2014. First time in a long time that I feel proud of being a McLaren fan.

    1. Good for them , especially in a weekend where McLaren didn’t look very fast.

      But hats off to Sainz, he really has a magic trick up his sleeve, he doesn’t even come up on TV for a second and still gets from 20th to 3rd. I’ve never been a fan of him, but that is a serious skill he’s perfecting this season.

      1. This will sound just like I’m taking all the credit away from him. But Bottas did retire, the Ferrari’s clashed, hamilton took albon out and gave himself a penalty. Sainz IMO had a solid drive, but overtaking half the grid in that car will have been pretty easy as the Mclaren is clearly better than most and most of the other positions for both him and Gasly were pretty lucky down to madness at the end. Plus the safety car helped a lot.

        It was certainly a very strong race, but i don’t think 20th to 3rd is that realistic of a way to look at it given that it involved quite a lot of luck. Sainz’s race was a bit similar to Stroll’s and Kvyat’s recent podiums. Performing well and keeping out of trouble. But I don’t think any were actually mighty impressive. That Mclaren certainly is the best car after the top 3 IMO.

  4. What about Albon? He’s lost his first podium…

    1. I know. I feel for him.

    2. And? He’s just earned a top drive in a front running car, a million pound paycheque and his life has turned 180 after being relegated to Formula E and living at his mums house.

      I *think* he will be just fine and probably score a podium in Australia in a couple months.

      Calm the down there’s much greater injustices going on in the world numbnuts.

      1. If you want to talk about other problems then WHY ARE YOU ON THIS PAGE?!?! All I was saying is that I feel sorry for what has happened to Albons chances of getting a podium soon.

        But what else would you like to talk about rather than formula 1 ON A F1 TALK PAGE?!?!

  5. Congratulations on the podium, Sainz and McLaren. A far cry indeed from 2018.

    1. Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
      17th November 2019, 20:03

      This also means Sainz officially won’t be going down the Hulkenberg-route

  6. Correct decision. Delighted for Sainz and gutted for Albon. Props to Lewis though the owning up to the incident.

    1. Props???
      For causing an accident and taking the podium from albon?
      Strange reaction

      1. Well compared to Seb? Yeah props for admitting it was wholly his fault.

      2. erikje: read the entire sentence. “Props to Lewis though the owning up to the incident.”

        There is no need to be disingenuous, this isn’t a US presidential election, stop acting like it.

  7. The right decision. It would’ve been a double-standards case given the similarity to the Ricciardo-Magnussen incident.

  8. Right decision, albon admitted himself he got there abit hot though so he also had abit of blame in this. I think it is clear Gasly is the most talented of Kvyat and Albon but in a redbull Albon has done far better than Gasly. Kvyat is taking one helluva beating by Gasly, Albon was slower in races than Kvyat but he edged him in the qualifying battle as a rookie. So it was the right decision as Kvyat did not outclass Albon atall. And Gasly is just way better than Kvyat for some reason, who all in all has been rather dissapointing lately and i have noticed alot of people have gone very quiet since spa especially some of the russian guys on here.

  9. I think Sainz is under investigation for DRS under yellow flag

    1. dio, not just Sainz – I’ve seen it alleged that multiple drivers were using DRS under yellow flag conditions, and that drivers were also using it when it was supposed to be disabled after the safety car periods.

      1. Well let’s wait and see what’s going to happen

        1. I don’t think it is illegal to use DRS under safety car. It is up to the FIA to dissable it and as long as the drivers don’t go above the delta pace then I see no problem. I will find out

          1. Norris#4, I believe there have actually been penalties given for using DRS in a yellow flag zone – in the 2012 Spanish GP, I think that both Massa and Vettel were penalised for using DRS when a yellow flag was in place (as it was used as evidence they were not slowing down whilst in a yellow flag zone).

  10. I’m also glad Albon acknowledged that he dithered and failed to either not open the door or to leave room when he did. As he said, he was just waiting for the impact. He’ll learn. His pass on the Ferraris and defense against Vettel were sensational. I’m looking to see him get on terms with verstappen.

    1. I think he realised he should have taken the defensive line. It was a bit of a dive from hamilton though.

    2. Yeah I felt like Albon left the door open, I’ve only seen it once though.

  11. Lewis should have kept his mouth shut.

    1. I like a Champion with integrity. Good on him for being a sportsman and a leader. Not that keeping one’s mouth shut is always entirely a bad idea….

      1. I think the key things here is that he is already the Champion so perhaps subconsciously he was able to feel that he could admit fault as there was no genuine consequence.

        If he was in a tight championship fight I bet he (and any other sportsman on the planet for that matter) would have been more evasive or defensive when questioned before going to the stewards to maximise his chances of not getting a penalty. 3rd to 7th is a good chunk of points to carelessly ‘concede’.

        Equally if he was in a championship fight he may have not made the move since he would have had more to lose in a collision. Maybe next year with a tiger championship we could find out!!

  12. Is it the best comeback of the season? From last to third, in a McLaren?

  13. Oh well. 7th it is.

  14. Spare a thought for Mr Wolff’s coffee table.

  15. This is what Sainz talked about on being invisible.

    1. Yeah even when he scores a third place we don’t get to see him on the podium. I guess he should change his song from ” Smooth operator” to “The invisible Man” (Queen).

  16. Russian get 10 sec in Mexico, but Hamilton can get away with just 5. Talking about consistency and prejudicement.

    1. To be fair, I think it wasn’t super clear cut, Im with Brundle on this Lewis to a certain extent had the right to try because the door was open. To be fair, Albon could have opened up a bit of space on the corner too, but would have lost the position for sure. I think lewis is more at fault but its not clear cut. I think its a racing incident, or 5 seconds at the worst.

      And with Lewis saying it was his fault its a slam dunk, but fair play to the man for saying so.

      Compare that with Seb now….

      1. I’m comparing to Kvyat. Both times in Mexico and Austin the door was open and he was on the apex, while Hulkenberg and Perez were driving slow across the apex to shut the door.

        1. @regs Kvyat drove into the back (of the wheel) of Hulkenberg!

          Kvyat got only a 5 second penalty for ramming through Perez. At least Hamilton tried to avoid the accident when Albon closed the door

        2. Regs, the fact you said both times shows you have some kind of bias or agenda.

          Kvyat drove into the back of Hulkenberg that was as clear cut as it gets. Even the second incident was virtually completely his fault.

          Hamiltons collison with Albon, if you wanted to, and had he wished, could have been debated.

  17. So is Sainz under investigation for using DRS during double waved yellows? Kimi on podium today?

  18. Kimi is getting a podium at 40+. I LOVE IT.

  19. Penalty was a 50/50 decision.
    But why didn’t they decide it before the ceremony?
    Sainz deserved his time on the podium.

    PS – they should have asked Albon to pick up the RBR team trophy.

    1. Completely agree, if its for podium place should certainly take priority.

      1. If Lewis got the penalty then even more stranger is that there is still NO penalty for Vettel for crashing into Leclerc!

        1. I mean some 10 place grid penalty for Vettel in the next race.

        2. He did not crash into lec. LEC touched his wheel lightly and both are to blame.
          The overtaking a corner earlier by lec was again very aggressive. As I predicted before the race, lec would crash.

          1. He did not crash into lec. LEC touched his wheel lightly and both are to blame.
            Funny how wording makes it seem like it was Leclerc who produced the accident per se, which is obviously not true and not even a little bit debatable when taking into account the fact that we have the rulebook and both onboard footage clips.
            The overtaking a corner earlier by lec was again very aggressive
            Dived on the inside of T1, something that is quite common if you know you have the braking advantage (which he knew he had, fresher tyres).
            As I predicted before the race, lec would crash.
            So Vettel “did not crash into lec”, but Leclerc crashed into Seb, somehow. I see.

        3. Strongly disagree. How did Vettel crash into Leclerc? I have seen a photo that showed Leclerc looking and turning into vettel down the straight.

  20. Perhaps if HAM didn’t admit he was wrong and was more neutral, he might have kept his 3rd place and the stewards would see it as a racing incident and thus used HAM words against him haha

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      18th November 2019, 1:41

      @arros3 well,unfortunately the stewards did in fact use his words against him. I don’t think that Lewis cares but you’d hope the stewards would actually watch the race once in a while.

  21. McLaren and Honda finally on the podium together….

    1. Oh no lol. That did make me laugh!

  22. So… Only Albon, Norris, Giovinazzi, Russel and Hulkenberg left without a podium. Crushingly, I believe Hulkenberg is now of all active F1 drivers the only non rookie left without a podium.

  23. Did anyone else notice? Whatever we think about Helmut Marko and his approach… four out of six today’s top-runners, including the ultimo top three, were brought into F1 by Red Bull… VER, GAS, SAI and RIC. Kudos to SAI. He really showed his character and quality this year.

  24. Last to 3rd. Quite an achievement. I remember people going mad about it when Vettel did it in Abu Dhabi 2012, but this is an even bigger accomplishment, even with the luck involved.

  25. Also, a podium shared by 3 former Toro Rosso drivers.

  26. Obvious decision. However, I do feel the stewards should have acted a lot faster so Sainz could stand on the podium instead. It wasn’t a hard decision for them so there’s no reason it should have taken that long.

    1. @tflb how is that a penalty? how? They are racing on the last lap and Albon leaves enough room for 3 cars to fit then closes the door?

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        17th November 2019, 23:27

        Why did he apologise after the race if he wasn’t at fault?

        1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          18th November 2019, 1:38

          @petebaldwin so if you apologize you’re at fault but if you don’t then you are not?

          By that token, Maldonado and Magnussen have never been at fault. They’ve never apologized.

          Of course Lewis feels bad given the fact that it would have been Albon’s 1st podium and their collision took that away but a penalty is a different story.

          1. @freelittlebirds “I went for a move, the gap was kind of there, but obviously it closed at the end and completely my fault”

            That’s what Hamilton said. An admission of guilt for a collision that ruined another driver’s race. Clear as day penalty.

          2. @tflb But when you watch it, it’s a racing incident. Albon left a massive gap and then closed it 100%. Nice of Lewis to apologize but the stewards could have given the penalty to Albon and been as wrong as giving it to Hamilton.

            By the same token, the next time Lewis feels that he’s not at fault then the FIA needs to take the penalty away. Remember when Vettel hit Lewis under safety car, Lewis complained that the penalty was too lenient. Did they modify the penalty and disqualify Vettel? No

            Lewis is not a steward and if the stewards will treat him as one based on his statements, then they need to treat him as one everytime. The stewards should independently decide who’s at fault looking at the footage, not listening to what Lewis, Horner or Max think.

            In this case, the result was beneficial in the sense that it gave a driver a podium but that doesn’t make it right.

  27. Henrik Møller Jørgensen
    17th November 2019, 21:01

    When is the last time we had a ‘podium’ without Merc? Must be ages

    1. Singapore 2019?

  28. He did not crash into lec. LEC touched his wheel lightly and both are to blame.
    The overtaking a corner earlier by lec was again very aggressive. As I predicted before the race, lec would crash.

    1. Vettel kept creeping to the left although he had plenty of room to the right. At the point of impact, Leclerc had the same amount of room to his left that Vettel had to his right. Vettel had zero reason to keep moving to the left. You can’t just turn towards a car and assume they will jump out of the way to avoid an accident you are trying to cause. What shoul’ve Leclerc done? They had equal amount of space on the track when they collided. Should Leclerc have hit the brakes to let Vettel pass? Usually you pass the entire car before you can move to the same “lane” as the car you passed, not just three quarters and then hope the other car will jump out of the way.

  29. Definitely a penalty… Is this a joke by the FIA? Are they just trying to live up to their inconsistent past? If so, they succeeded.

  30. Clear penalty, weird that it took so long to announce it. Also weird that commentators on Sky kept saying how there was a gap to go for: of course there was a gap, as that’s the racing line. The hairpin is like T1 at Circuit of the Americas, surely you can dive down but then you end up taking the other guy with you or drive off the road.

  31. I feel this is a good example to my point in the the Vettel-making-too-many-mistakes debate how it’s more easy to get frustrated and mess up once you can’t lose a tenth anywhere or the win is out of reach.

  32. One thing that I cannot see stated anywhere is – Did Hamiliton get penality points on his license ?

Comments are closed.