In what was supposed to be a day of coverage for Valtteri Bottas‘ achievement, his teammate Lewis Hamilton has taken over yet again, but this time it’s off the track. After receiving a 10-second penalty for illegitimate practice starts, Hamilton hit back stating that it was unfair.

The Mercedes driver had gotten out of Q2 under bizarre circumstances. And after claiming pole position, would win yet another race in the Russian GP.

But the eventual outcome saw Hamilton receive a time penalty that led to a P3, a lowly finish as far as his lofty standards are concerned. Although it was a good day overall for Mercedes, it was not the best one for the British racer.

Lewis Hamilton’s penalty was an administration of race regulations

In the latest development to the Lewis Hamilton penalty saga, FIA’s Race Director, Michael Masi, declared that the FIA is not out to get him. He insisted that they were merely following the rules to determine racing fairness.

In a statement through the official F1 website, Masi stated, “From my perspective it’s very simple. That if Lewis wants to raise something, the door is always open. We have the stewards as an independent judiciary to adjudicate those, and therefore there was an infringement.

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“And it doesn’t matter if it was Lewis Hamilton or any one of the other 19 drivers. If a breach has occurred of the regulations, they will consider it on its merits.”

Hamilton violations duly explained by the FIA

Despite earlier suggestions that he had received two penalties for the same mistake, Masi has now clarified the matter. He stated, “There was a breach of two elements of the regulations that were highlighted.

“One being the article within the race director’s event notes. The second being Article 36.1 of the Sporting Regulations that states you must keep a constant speed through the pit exit road.”

Although it was a risky move that Mercedes could have so easily avoided, they will want to put this incident behind them and look to Germany as the Formula 1 circus heads to Nurburgring for the Eifel Grand Prix.