Lewis Hamilton said he was stunned to receive a grid penalty for this weekend’s race following his retirement from the last round.
The Ferrari driver was given a five-place grid penalty for failing to slow sufficiently for yellow flags during a pre-race reconnaissance lap.
Although the infringement occured before the race, the stewards said they did not have enough information to make their decision until after it. As Hamilton retired from the race, his penalty is applied to this weekend’s grand prix.
Hamilton’s penalty was announced over five hours after the race finished. He said it took him by surprise.
“I don’t know how the other drivers felt about the decisions of the last race, but I landed back home and then saw that I got this penalty and I was really, really shocked, to be honest,” he said. “But it is what it is.
“It’s obviously not black-and-white. The fact is, if you look at the report, I did lift, but to their liking, not enough. So that’s why, I guess, they’re saying not more [places]. But to get the penalty and penalty points, it’s pretty hardcore.”
Hamilton said he was particularly disappointed to receive the penalty for what will be his first race at Monza for Ferrari.
“I learned from it and there’s no point whingeing about it,” he said. “I’ll move forward.
“It’s going to be challenging this weekend. Qualifying is already so close between us all so just getting into Q3 is tough, getting in the top five is very, very tough and then on top of that to then be set back five places is not great when you’re going into your first Monza GP with Ferrari.
“But it gives me more to fight for and I’m very motivated to make up those places, regardless.”
This article will be updated.
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