Hamilton’s win under threat as he faces new investigation over seat belts

2021 Sao Paulo Grand Prix

14th November 2021, 19:5114th November 2021, 20:41 | Written by Keith Collantine

Lewis Hamilton’s victory in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix is under threat as he faces another investigation from the stewards.

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The Mercedes driver is being investigated for a possible infraction of the rules regarding his seat belts.

“We are going to the stewards because Lewis has undone his belts on the last lap,” team principal Toto Wolff told media after the race, which Hamilton won by 10 seconds ahead of championship rival Max Verstappen.

The stewards confirmed a Mercedes representative has been summoned to meet with them at 5pm local time over an “alleged breach of Appendix L Chapter III Article 4 of the FIA International Sporting Code (use of safety belts).”

The regulation states: “Drivers must be properly restrained in their seat by safety belts in conformity with the technical regulations for the vehicle concerned, at all times during a competition when it is mobile on a circuit, pit lane, special stage or competition course.”

Charles Leclerc briefly drove with his seat belts disconnected during last year’s Spanish Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver was not formally investigated on that occasion.

Update: Hamilton keeps Sao Paulo Grand Prix win after fine for seat belt infraction

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Keith Collantine

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51 comments on “Hamilton’s win under threat as he faces new investigation over seat belts”

Neil (@neilosjames)
14th November 2021, 19:52

Think he’ll be safe this time round…
Sumedh
14th November 2021, 19:53

50k for touching other’s rear wing.
10k for touching own seat belts.

Case. Closed.
Tonald
14th November 2021, 19:54

50k fine?
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
14th November 2021, 19:54

I hear 50k Euro fines are a popular thing these days.
petebaldwin (@)
14th November 2021, 19:54

Wow….. I wouldn’t say his win is under threat. It’ll be a fine surely?
1. Erzen (@xenn1)
  14th November 2021, 20:32
  
  Yes but “Hamilton summoned to stewards over seatbelt breach” wouldn’t get as many clicks.
  
  At the same time the title of the article can’t speculate over what a punishment could be as that would just mean that the author has already assumed the result of the investigation or knows something that the people investigating the situation don’t
  1. Aapje (@aapje)
    15th November 2021, 9:14
    
    @xenn1
    
    Indeed, pure click bait.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
14th November 2021, 19:55

Stewards spent all Max’s money yesterday and need more to get home
1. medman (@medman)
  14th November 2021, 20:01
  
  @Fer no.65
  Very good sir….thanks for the chuckle.
2. Imre (@f1mre)
  14th November 2021, 20:13
  
  :D
3. Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
  14th November 2021, 20:14
  
  LOL!!! Best F1 joke ever. Nice one!!
4. Omar R (@)
  14th November 2021, 20:30
  
  COTD
5. Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
  14th November 2021, 20:39
  
  Is ~£4K enough?
Jere (@jerejj)
14th November 2021, 19:55

LOL. Post-race cooldown lap, yes, but I doubt he already did so on the last lap while, of course, still driving at racing speeds.
Markus (@aesto)
14th November 2021, 19:56

Compared to other series, F1 hardly ever overturns wins. Car failing scrutineering is basically the only way to do it, and that’s not the case here.
John H (@john-h)
14th November 2021, 19:56

Leclerc did this with no penalty, so at best it will be a fine. Not sure the win is really under threat.
1. Kotrba
  14th November 2021, 20:03
  
  Leclerc even raced with the undone belts right? In Spain. Hamilton did it on the victory lap. So no problem there hopefully.
  1. Kotrba
    14th November 2021, 20:05
    
    Yeah just read it in the article itself.
  2. Bagaman (@bagaman)
    14th November 2021, 20:15
    
    In moment like this, I miss Charle Whiting. May his soul rest in peace. With this clown from Australia in charge, F1 is becoming a circus.
    1. melanos
      14th November 2021, 20:29
      
      Is Australia at fault then? And seriously, what do you have against clowns? They often do a great job, Massi can’t say that.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
14th November 2021, 19:56

Give him a five second penalty and be done with it.
1. AlexTR
  14th November 2021, 20:19
  
  You must be in so much pain
  1. hahostolze (@hahostolze)
    14th November 2021, 20:22
    
    By suggesting an amazing driver gets a penalty which won’t cost him his win for a stupid offense? Do explain.
    1. AlexTr
      14th November 2021, 21:15
      
      By suggesting a time penalty, you would make an absurd investigation looks like a racing incident. Since you never miss a chance expressing your dislike against Hamilton, I believe this comment follows the same pattern.
      Lewis has served his time in this GP. This one is ridiculous. The only thing they succeeded is to underline something noone would have noticed.
      If anything, Hamilton drove his heart out, give the man a break
ian dearing
14th November 2021, 19:58

Just disqualified from this race and back of the grid start at the next the way its going lately.
1. Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
  14th November 2021, 20:15
  
  And ban him from the first three races next season
  
  Sorry, I became all Christian Horner
CarWars (@maxv)
14th November 2021, 19:58

I am no Hamilton fan: this is nonsense. He won, end.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
14th November 2021, 20:00

Under threat is a bit of an exaggeration. There’s no chance they’ll change the result. Zero chance of that.
AMG44 (@amg44)
14th November 2021, 20:03

Oh man. Can these penalties finally stop?
Alan Dove
14th November 2021, 20:04

Not under threat I;d imagine. The (apparent) movement of the wheel (on camera, thus not definitive) doesn’t seem to conform to my reading of the regs, but I only read them quickly. We’ll see, haven’t looked into it much.
BW (@deliberator)
14th November 2021, 20:06

50K reimbursement to MV.
fab
14th November 2021, 20:06

50 K :p
Equality =^^=
Sham (@sham)
14th November 2021, 20:13

It’s amazing how the stewards can see some things so clearly.
1. Ajaxn
  14th November 2021, 20:31
  
  well at least Hamilton’s in car camera works…
rodewulf (@rodewulf)
14th November 2021, 20:14

We hope he doesn’t lose his win as he had to seriously work for it after all, and it’s unlikely. The headline is just there to provoke a sense of persecution amongst his fans (like if they were lacking it).
RandomMallard (@)
14th November 2021, 20:18

Reprimand at most, end of story. Even hoping Mercedes appeal against Verstappen, if there’s a way they can (and I’m supporting Verstappen in this championship battle), it was just such a bad move.
Davey
14th November 2021, 20:18

Waiting for him to make a joke about the 50K fine just like Max did.
Shrieker (@shrieker)
14th November 2021, 20:22

They might as well check his trouser zipper at this rate.
Omar R (@)
14th November 2021, 20:28

Seriously I hope he doesn’t get a stupid penalty. He won fair and square. If Max wins the WDC, I don’t want anyone saying, rightly so, that he won because LH got this victory taken.
rpaco
14th November 2021, 20:31

Perhaps the FIA should be renamed RBIA,older fans will know what I mean.
Kringle
14th November 2021, 20:33

Did I visit the Daily Mail by accident? Almost a clickbait, ragtop, toilet paper with headlines like that.
Mike Williams (@mikejtw)
14th November 2021, 20:38

At the rate this is going, it seems that Mercedes should fit ‘scythed’ wheels to their cars as per Boudicea. Lets see how FIA stewards would deal with this?
Andy (@andyfromsandy)
14th November 2021, 20:39

5000 fine now and 20,000 suspended until the end of 2022.
Broom (@)
14th November 2021, 20:40

Please can we go easy on the click bait headlines
Blakk
14th November 2021, 20:42

in the 2000ies FIA=Ferrari International Assitance
in the 2021 FIA=Fuzzy Influence from Austria
John H (@john-h)
14th November 2021, 20:44

Although this is obvious ridiculous, it does bring to light the danger if setting precedents. Leclerc did two racing laps with no belts, and from memory got nothing, no reprimand, no fine, nothing! I’m not saying that should happen here, but pointing out the danger of making bad decisions that set ridiculous precedents because the stewards like one team, in that case it was Ferrari.
1. F1oSaurus (@f1osaurus)
  14th November 2021, 21:54
  
  @john-h There actually was a funny skit during the F1 drivers briefing with Charlie Whiting back in the days. Charlie thought Hamilton was hanging out of the car with his seat belt still fastened. The drivers explained to him that they have to undo their seat belts for that. Charlie was kinda shocked that they did that and told them they were not allowed to do so.
  
  Found it:
  https://youtu.be/tPr5khO86Eg?t=75
  1. John H (@john-h)
    14th November 2021, 22:27
    
    Yes I used to love those @f1osaurus. The one with Perez going up to Charlie at the end was my favourite.
Blakk
14th November 2021, 20:46

I guess if FIA will start making decisions completely randomly it still would make more sense than now…
1. Esploratore (@esploratore1)
  14th November 2021, 22:23
  
  Ahah, that’s probably true.
nandy
15th November 2021, 5:57

Race ban to make the point of safety.