Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Monza, 2020

“Why such a harsh penalty?”: Hamilton’s mid-race conversation with Monza stewards revealed

2020 F1 season

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A steward involved in the decision to issue Lewis Hamilton a penalty which cost him victory in last year’s Italian Grand Prix has described how the world champion visited them in person during the race to query the call.

A mid-race stoppage due to a crash gave Hamilton the opportunity to ask Garry Connelly and his fellow stewards why he had been given a 10-second stop-and-go penalty – one of the toughest sanctions an F1 driver can receive. It was issued after Hamilton failed to observe signs indicating the pit lane entrance was closed during a Safety Car period, and came in to change tyres.

“Lewis Hamilton drove into the pit lane when the pit entry was closed,” Connelly explained during a session at the FIA International Stewards Programme last weekend. “The warning light panels – two of them on the entrance to the pit lane – clearly displayed the cross to show the pit lane was closed, then we referenced the appropriate regulation.”

F1’s rules specify a 10-second stop-and-go penalty must be issued to any driver who enters a closed pit lane. Connelly said the stewards therefore “had no choice” over Hamilton’s penalty.

Analysis: Mercedes warned Hamilton not to come into the pits four seconds too late
“This is something that most of us don’t like. We don’t like mandatory penalties. Almost all the chairmen of the FIA stewards in F1 and most of the other stewards in F1 disagree with mandatory penalties. But they are there, mainly at the request of the teams.”

The decision had major consequences for the race. “This required a stop-and-go penalty for Lewis Hamilton. The world champion – potentially – was leading the race at the time [and] went, basically, to the back of the field. That was a very interesting situation.”

The race was later suspended after Charles Leclerc crashed heavily at Parabolica. To Connelly’s surprise, Hamilton appeared in the stewards room shortly afterwards.

“Lewis hopped on his scooter during the stoppage of the race, scooted down the pit lane, and came up and paid us a visit in the stewards room. Wearing his mask, which was great – we all put our masks on when he came into our stewards’ room.

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“Lewis was extremely polite. He just said, ‘Guys, can you tell me why I’ve been penalised?’ And we said, ‘Yes, because you entered the pit lane when it was closed.’ He said, ‘Can you show me?’

Hamilton’s penalty cost him a likely win
“So we said, ‘Of course’. And we showed him the video replay. We showed him from his onboard camera. And there right in front of him was the warning light for the first panel, and then again, the second panel.

“He said, ‘Oh, okay. I accept that,’ he said, ‘but why such a harsh penalty?’ “We explained to him, ‘Unfortunately Lewis, it’s a mandatory penalty. And we don’t have any choice but to impose this penalty on you.’

“And whilst he was not absolutely delighted with this, Lewis accepted it, and was extremely polite, as I’ve always found him, and left the room and went back.”

Connelly used the experience as an example of how stewards can effectively communicate potentially controversial decisions.

“No doubt he had a few comments to his team about why they didn’t warn him on the radio. But I think that’s a perfect example that, no matter how painful the decision, it was accepted by Lewis, and it was accepted by his team.

“So it just goes to show that if you can explain something, you can make a difficult decision acceptable to those to whom it applies, and to the wider audience.”

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2020 F1 season

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69 comments on ““Why such a harsh penalty?”: Hamilton’s mid-race conversation with Monza stewards revealed”

  1. I really like the racefans site, but sometimes it bothers me a little that it is so many articles about Lewis. I am not a HAM hater but have a strong believe that F1 is not just about him even though he is soon to become 8 times WC.
    Yes, he made a mistake in Monza, he lost a win that was almost in his hands, he was polite to te stewards then, end of story. Its not worth of an article IMHO…
    What I really miss on racefans are articles about technical stuff. As I know there are some changes coming in 2021…

    1. Sure it’s not just about Lewis but he is the biggest star atm & more often than not is very newsworthy, especially in a off season the standards are lower. This was an ok article tbh (bait headline) but gave good insight into a stewards meeting on how they are handling the optics of controversial decisions & insight into a very memorable event, We all wanted to be a fly on the wall when Lewis scootered down & well now we know what happened, even if it isn’t as ‘bombshell’ as some would like. Let’s be real its off season & there’s little to discuss which has direct quotes other than ‘rumours’ & few virtual racing things. Anyhow, Every sport needs interesting & newsworthy characters & Hamilton has been that since day 1 in 2007, I’m sure many in the media will dearly miss him…especially the tabloids.

  2. 2017 US GP and 2020 Italian GP, I wonder what’s up next from Gary Connelly’s archived stories as an FIA steward.

    1. Canada 2019? That was very controversial! I’m just not sure connelly was there that race.

      1. @esploratore He wasn’t. The Stewards for that event were Gerd Ennser, Mathieu Remmerie, and Emanuele Pirro.

        1. I’d love to have a bit of background knowledge about that one. Not because it was necessarily a bad call but because it was the start of the new “let them race “philosophy.
          In the aftermath of all that, did the FIA think it was a bad call or did think they crossed a border in trying to have a rule everything?

        2. Ahh, true, I remember pirro got a lot of flake for that, think d-e-a-t-h threats too. Yes, would be nice to hear their stance on that, imo it was an exagerated penalty that ruined a very good race, if you check the score it doesn’t represent at all the race until the penalty, it was a knee jerk reaction from the fanbase, I was part of that too, I think it was an 8 worthy race, even qualifying was great.

  3. I actually feel it’s correct to have a mandatory penalty, that’s the consistency us fans are always asking for.

    It’s also correct that it’s a servere penalty for this offence. There’s potentially a lot to be gained by pitting in a closed pit lane. The last thing we need is teams to roll the dice because they might gain from it.

    1. Totally agree on both points.

      A pit stop under safety car when no one else is having can obviously be a race winning move. I’m surprised the stewards saw this is a minor offense, but just goes to show things should be moved out of the stewards hands as much as possible like you say.

    2. Not to mention the fact that is a safety issue. They don’t just close pitlanes on a whim (Usually!)

  4. The penalty wasn’t controversial at all. It is in the rules as such, and the pit lane was undeniably closed. Not giving the penalty would be unthinkable.

    What was controversial was that the pit closed indication is on the outside of the corner, on the left way apart from the track, while the pit entry is on the right. Drivers focus on the exit of the corner, not on what’s behind the gravel traps. So it is understandable that Lewis and Antonio missed it.
    Still, everyone had to deal with it and most stayed out.

    1. I think this is a bit of a red herring to be honest. Everyone knew where the boards were in advance of the event and Hamilton, having already copped one penalty earlier in the season for ignoring a marker board, should have been extra-vigilant.

      1. @red-andy Exactly, but further to that, and why I disagree with your second paragraph Bart, is that all one has to do is look at LH’s on-board shot as provided above, to see that the pit lane indicator light is exactly where it needs to be. As you can plainly see, the light is not only right in front of him as the stewards pointed out to LH, indeed he would even have to look to his right, which is the direction he’d be looking anyway for a right-hander, to see the light. Were they to put the light on the right hand side, where there is also a wall as we can see, the driver would not have very much time at all to react, as he would have to be further along or even past the corner to see a light to to his right. By placing the light where they did, drivers have ample time to react as it is right in front of him.

        So sure, when you just look at the position of the light in relation to the position of the pit lane entry, and take nothing else into account, then I suppose one might ask, why there? But then all one would have to do is put themselves in the shoes of the drivers, and then it becomes unquestionably clear as to why they put it there. I mean, they’re not daft, and if they were that daft, well as Red Andy has pointed out, they (the teams and drivers) would have had ample opportunity to speak to F1 about the daftness going on with the positioning of the light. One can safely assume therefore there was no issue with the positioning of the light ahead of the race. They walk the tracks. They have meetings over this kind of stuff ahead of the race weekends.

        1. @robbie

          Indeed, that’s how corners work. Stuff on the left side of a right hand turn will cross your view from right to left.

        2. I was never a real fan of Michael Schumacher, but you have to admit that Schumacher knew the rules really well. All of them.
          There were numerous instances over his span when he ducked an issue or circumvented a penalty because he knew “exactly” what the rules and penalties were and how to avoid them. Not counting running into other cars of course.
          It would seem that there were a couple o instances this past year, Monza pit-closed and a start practice prior to the Sochi race, which showed that Hamilton and his handlers were less than 100% knowledgeable on the details of the rules. Yes, room for improvement.

          1. Ah, I’m a schumacher fan but I wasn’t aware of this.

  5. The penalty wasn’t the problem, the unclear communication about the pit lane closure was. Then they make it out like it’s a life or death situation, but it was unclear to most teams and drivers.

    Blinking lights resembling the SC lights and in the wrong spot for showing that the pit lane is closed. Plus a lower priority message to the teams that then ends up on one of the hidden pages.

    1. If he thinks it looks the same as a caution light then he needs his eyes assessed and probably shouldn’t be driving a car at up to 350 km/h.

      Everyone else but Hamilton and Giovinazzi got it right.

      Drivers should be hyper aware of any possibility at any moment, especially after a big incident where the yellow flag is out already.

      1. He had milliseconds to see something on the wrong side of the track to where a driver would be looking. The warnings were clearly in the wrong place. That has nothing to do with the penalty but explains the infraction. However anyone further back has no such excuse unless they were fighting with another driver. Clearly Dean you are not too experienced at track racing in a truly competitive environment.

        The penalty was an obvious and had to be done.

      2. Nonsense. Hamilton and Giovanazi were simply the closest to pitlane and had least time to work out that it was closed.

        Pretty much all teams and drivers were struggling understanding the pitlane was closed. Only Russell indicated to the team that he saw the pitlane was closed.

        Plenty drivers were arguing that they should have come in.

    2. @f1osaurus How was the communication unclear? Every competitor knew about that via the event notes that come out before every race weekend.
      Here’s the copy-pasted text from each event equivalent:
      ”5) Track light panel displaying pit entry status
      5.1 The light panel indicated on the pit lane map will display a flashing yellow arrow if cars are required
      to use the pit lane once the Safety Car has been deployed during the race.
      5.2 The light panel indicated on the pit lane map will display a flashing red cross if the pit lane is closed
      at any point during the race.”
      Source: https://www.fia.com/events/fia-formula-one-world-championship/season-2020/italian-grand-prix/eventtiming-information

      1. @jerejj Why pretend that it wasn’t confusing when in fact all teams and drivers were struggling to decide whether the pitlane was closed or not?

        Besides, I already explained HOW:

        Blinking lights resembling the SC lights and in the wrong spot for showing that the pit lane is closed. Plus a lower priority message to the teams that then ends up on one of the hidden pages.

        1. @drgraham @f1osaurus Aside from the fact that if indeed the light was in the wrong spot LH et al would have had plenty of opportunity to complain about that in the safety meetings they have ahead of races, and obviously didn’t, there is the proof provided above in LH’s on-board shot that you two are wrong. You can plain as day see that not only are the stewards right, which is also why LH had to agree, which was to point out to him that the light was right in front of him, you can also plainly see that indeed he would have to look right of centre of the car to see the light, which is the same direction he and all the drivers would be looking for a right-hander.

          It is a ridiculous notion to claim that the light was in the wrong spot, but what you are saying is that if whoever is responsible for that is that daft, then the teams and drivers must be equally daft, for they didn’t insist on having it changed. So why didn’t they insist on having it changed? Because the light is exactly where it needs to be for that corner at that track given the position of the pit lane entry.

          1. @robbie Yes because there is no way to ever say something is wrong if you didn’t mention it some earlier time.

            Just get lost dumb troll! You are just so utterly useless.

          2. @f1osaurus So in other words I’m right because you have resorted to your usual response when you’ve got nothing.

          3. @robbie No you are a troll.

            People fix mistakes all the time. There is not 5 second rule for fixing mistakes.

            Seriously though. Do you have no shame? Clearly you said something insanely stupid. Why do you waste people’s time pretending you made some valid point?

          4. @f1osaurus You want to keep denying what LH himself accepted even mid-race when he went to the stewards, go ahead. You can’t see the light right in front of LH either? That’s called denial.

            On a more mature note, perhaps we could both delve into whether or not they have now changed the positioning of that light. I’m going to google for that information later when I have a moment. Or maybe you already have evidence that they have corrected this alleged mistake?

          5. @robbie You just have no clue. Get lost troll!

          6. F1oSaurus, you’re just an unpopular guy. No doubt about that!

    3. This was a mistake waiting to happen, the fact that its followed by a madatory penalty
      makes it doubly harsh. I wonder if as a result there’s been any kind of review of those
      warning lights.

      If he were driving slower.
      If he were driving slower, without the halo.
      If he were driving slower, without the halo, on an overcast day, he might have spotted those lights..

      There are so many factors which exist now, which would not have been a factor when
      those lights were first placed. eg the speeds cars do now, and the halo device. The fact
      that we can see the light on a still image, or a slowed video, doesn’t mean it registered
      with the driver.

      In this case timing was everything. Hamilton as race leader, was the nearest the the pits
      when this warning was triggered, so that he and his pit crew had less time to respond.

      It would also be interesting to know how many times the lights on that track have been
      missed or misinterpreted.. and under what circumstances.

    4. 1: There were no hidden pages. It was a figure of speech from (wolf i remember) It was very visible on the main screen.
      2: the localisation of the sign was exact correct and for a driver the most logical place to look.
      3:

      Blinking lights resembling the SC lights

      is that an argument to miss the sing?????

      1. 1: Well there is only one page visible and the announcement was a few pages behind. So … hidden.
        2: A normal pit lane entry has a traffic light showing that it’s closed
        3: Yes a sign that looks remarkably like another sign is confusing.

        These are all not that hard to understand. If you actually think rather than knee jerk because you are in love with Verstappen.

  6. “So it just goes to show that if you can explain something, you can make a difficult decision acceptable to those to whom it applies, and to the wider audience”

    Yes we should all be polite, yes the stewards must be reasonable. But one unreasonable person can destroy the harmony. Which is why they also have the authority to sanction or disqualify as required.

    It probably felt like a nice thing to say, but it isn’t true.

  7. Pit lane was closed. End of story.

    Giovinazzi made the same error but didn’t kick up a fuss when penalised. Accepted it with grace. Didn’t go to race control mid-race in order to what I assume was to intimidate the officials into not making the same decision in future (it’s not like they’re going to turn it over and it was pretty clear why he was penalised)

    Hamilton has some time off now. Instead of skiing or hanging out in LA clubs he should probably brush up on the sporting regulations.

    1. Gio wasn’t leading the race.

    2. I do personally agree: I didn’t like myself watching Lewis going into the Stewards’ Room (with a very intimidating look due to adrenaline and frustration, I believe). I guess what would have happened if Antonio went in instead…probably they wouldn’t allow him in.

      What I mean is the most renown champion of the last decade should be a champion in attitude as well and outside IG and when things goes just a little bit wrong, Lewis falls short on this.
      Honestly this is good because he can still improve as a man that, ultimately, should be the goal of all of us.

      It’s the same league of the other obscure rules of the sport concerning a red flagged race. You shouldn’t touch the car (aside air coolers and tire blankets) and drivers shouldn’t leave the paddock area but for toilet purposes.

      1. So you are saying that the open door policy that Masi and before him Whiting operate under in respect of Race Directors and Stewards, and is common in MotoGP, etc. is only in name only? Or like the other poster, do you think certain drivers should be barred; such as multiple WDCs (as long as they are judged to have sufficient clout)?
        Odd that you and the other one found Hamilton intimidating. Probably says more about you and the other poster considering the man in the room with Hamilton found him polite (as he always is).

    3. Wrong.

    4. Or brush up in the methods of 210-Po administration to recalcitrant stewards

    5. Reading all the regs in the book wouldn’t have helped him see the lights. Every driver other than Lewis/Gio was told to stay out over radio which is the vital source of info, Lewis was just too far ahead to get the message in time, Even Sainz who was 2nd said he was going to pit & didn’t see the light until his team told him to stay out at the very last second. Every other driver was very far back enough to be told over radio before they even got to that corner with the lights & the one who wans’t told (Giovinannzi) did pit. Just a bad timing of events, partly Lewis fault & team. Merc have since admitted they have flaws in their automated message systems other teams don’t that’s hurt them twice this year. If I was him I’d continue smashing those LA models in clubs & enjoy my youth knowing 9 times out of 10 I can get the job done & there’s little ‘homework’ that can avoid such scenarios tbh

      1. Youth? He’s closer to 40 than 30.

        The light was located in a perfectly fine position. If the light was on the inside of the corner he would have flashed by barely noticing. On the outside of the corner he should have noticed it easily if paying attention to his surroundings.

    6. @Dean F

      to intimidate the officials into not making the same decision in future

      Of course that was the reason, and for sure it worked too. Just look how they had to tell him they didn’t really want to give him the penalty, and now to OTT praise him how he was so extremely polite and correct, when in reality to question their judgement is the exact opposite of polite and correct in this situation. For sure some, or all of them have also seen his fan base in action on the internet and know full well what could be unleashed on them.

      1. @balue Well there is a polite conversation with the stewards, which is quite a refreshing change from the garbage mouthed drivers you support.

        1. @f1osaurus Sweet how in your world it’s all about camps of driver supporters, and also how you still can’t get rid of the urge to slam other drives even if they have nothing to do with the topic.

          1. @balue It’s something that’s extremely prevalent in your posts yes.

  8. I think all parties managed that pretty well. The panalty seemed harsh at first but was the only option. The stewards did a good job in explaining what happend and Hamilton understood and accepeted it very maturely. compared to Verstappen in the US 2017 or Vettel in Canada 2019…

    1. @roadrunner Well, Hamilton was still complaining about the penalty on the radio as they took the restart (when he could easily have had the conversation with his engineers during the stoppage when no one was listening), which was a tad petulant of him. But yes, it could have been a lot worse…

      1. Was he?

        Seems to be discussing when to take the penalty in these these transmissions up until the radio silence before launch.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMDAV7jX4Vg&ab_channel=F1Fun4u

        So have you got the link where he is complaining, which I assume is when the race is back underway

        1. @Ian dearing 👍🏾

    2. Also true hamilton has a very easy life in nowadays’ f1, I think you will be more positive about taking a penalty that costs you a race when you win 10 + a year and no one apart from your team mate, who is subpar can realistically challenge you; vettel had a very rare win chance in canada 2019, verstappen if I recall had a very good recovery, which rarely came to a podium and it got stripped when he could’ve completed the overtake even without going off track.

  9. I thought it was a bit petulant of him to do regardless of how polite he was. If he wanted to query the penalty someone from Mercedes should have gone, not him. Not as the penalised party, and not as a multiple world champion with significant clout in the sport.

    1. And then you would have people complaining Hamilton didn’t even have the guts to go himself but sent someone in his stead. Or if he didn’t do anything at all, there would be those saying Senna, Schumacher, Verstappen, etc. wouldn’t have taken it in silence like true passionate champs.

      It’s a lose-lose situation here, not necessarily because of people having different opinions on what he should have done, but how a certain portion of the fandom reacts to everything Hamilton does.

      1. spot on @postreader

    2. “bit petulant” or very human.

      Most times when these penalities are issued there is no way for the drivers to question
      the decision. The race stopage uniquely provided a chance for a review which Hamilton took.
      This is him following his instincts, part of what makes him a multiple champion.

      The build up to this situation should be noted. One of the Hass drivers was told by his team
      to pull over. This he could have done earlier on the track but instead chose to drive his car
      to that area just before the pit entrance, which lead to the pit closure instead of an SC and
      a free tire stop. [yep, you could not make this up]

      The rest followed predictably on the timing of that decission.. for Hass, read Ferrrari, read Italy,
      where Hamilton might have been crowned 7 times champion, but instead found himself relegated
      to the back of the field. Hindsight can be such a wonderful thing when it used wisely. Hamilton
      had only his instincts that something wasn’t quite right.

      No who wouldn’t question this?

  10. In this age they get yellow flag, red flag and SC / VSC indications on their steering wheels, so why not a pit lane closed indication?

    There, I’ve just solved it.

  11. I am so surprised by the amount implying it will have been hard for Hamilton to notice it. Or that it will have been hard for him due to it being on the other side. The fact is. It was a right hand corner and there were two signs at different stages round the corner. Both of which initially will have been visible to his right, then as he goes round the bend, it will be in the centre of his vision, then the left. So those saying it won’t have been where he was looking, was he looking left before entering a right hand bend? And with two of the warnings, i honestly see little excuse for it not being clear, no matter what the team say.

    Even if Hamilton was a bit unlucky to be caught out where he was, he seems to not have the best understanding of some of the rules. Even if it wasn’t clear again in Russia. I can’t understand why he thought it would be sensible to do a practice start where he did – twice.

    I still find it very interesting that Hamilton as such a good driver seems to have collected the most penalty points in ages and drivers like Grosjean haven’t had any for well over a season.

    1. @thegianthogweed Agreed and have said similar things above in a few remarks. What I’m, well, not surprised about but I suppose amused about, is how vehement some LH supporters can be over this, still all bent out of shape over something that LH himself accepted right then and there mid-race, even in the heat of the moment. Still claiming things that even LH himself would disagree with after having been shown the evidence and accepting it. It’s like it’s not enough he’s had such a dominant car and has taken that to great heights. Any blemish to that, even when indisputable, even when the penalty was a mere blip in his dominant season, needs to be fought tooth and nail months afterwards. Such sore winners some LH fans can be.

      1. You’re still missing the point, two drivers drove thru the pits during a red flag situation! forget about penalties, evidence of lights, it’s all nonsense. It’s all irrelevant if a track worker gets chopped in half, This incident shows there are flaws in their system that needs sorting, they need a system that leaves no room for doubt that the pitlane is closed….whether it’s lights on the steering wheel with a pit closed message or more lights before the pit entry, relying on mandatory penalties as some kind of fix for not having a proper system is careless.

        1. so a movable barrier that comes up in the entrance would solve it ;)

    2. “I still find it very interesting that Hamilton as such a good driver seems to have collected the most penalty points ”

      Yeah strange aint it. Very strange… do we just leave it at that?

    3. @thegianthogweed I was watching the race on German TV. The replay was shown over and over and they never noticed the signal was for the pit lane closure. They assumed it was for the safety car.

      So they knew something went wrong, that the pitlane was closed and they still didn’t see that from the sign.

      People can pretend it’s all cut and dry in hindsight. The reality is that plenty of people did not see what the sign was supposed to indicate.

      For a supposedly “live or death” situation, that’s something to be thought about …

      1. @f1osaurus

        But there is a difference between a red X and an SC symbol on the signs. The safety car symbol is written in white text surrounded by red generally. The cameras are poor at picking up the colour difference probably because of the exposure but it should have been very easy for Hamilton to see it was different. If the signs have text, then the drivers must be able to read it otherwise they are pointless. If it looked different to the usual VSC or SC (which it did – even on camera), then the drivers have no excuse and it is pretty poor if the commentators didn’t spot it either.

        If Hamilton didn’t know what a red X meant, then that is a pretty serious problem as drivers should know this. This is why I think the penalty wasn’t harsh at all and it surprises me that so many can be in Hamilton’s defence. Yes the team were wrong, but he should have known himself.

        1. @thegianthogweed Yes he could have seen it, but that’s not the point. The point is that there were many drivers who did not see this. So there clearly is an issue with the signaling.

      2. A lot of reporters missed Hamilton passing Glock in the final race of the season in 2008 while it was on live-tv. Hell, even half of the Ferrari-team missed it. Doesn’t mean anything. When you say he could have seen it, then the penalty is justified. It’s actually a pretty easy penalty he got, as not noticing a red light at pit-exit is an instant black flag.

  12. When was the “they’re trying to stop me” comment made again? I remember hearing it, but not sure where it was..was it Monza or Russia?

  13. Three things can be right simultaneously:
    1. The penalty was correct and needs to be harsh: driving down a pit lane when it’s closed (and more importantly when those working in the lane believe it is closed) is highly dangerous.
    2. Should Hamilton have stopped on the pit lane entry? He seems to have seen or registered that he had just seen the sign just as he was entering and immediately questioned the team’s call to bring him in. He was caught in two minds, which is simply human error (multiple human error, his own and his team’s).
    3. The signs could and should have been much clearer, on the same (near) side of the track as the lane (recall Hamilton was looking right where the parked car was after Parabolica) and with a sign on entry to the actual lane. Plus a call over the radio to all drivers: pit lane closed. The race director should address all drivers directly and immediately in emergency situations (red flag, pit lane closed etc.).

    1. @david-br Exactly. For that moment it is what it is and Hamilton and Giovinazzi were unlucky to fall victim to the confusion. Lessons should be learned though.

  14. Italy 2020 was a fair penalty and a revenge for what he did at Brazil 2019 and Austria 2020.

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