McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton rues three-grid penalty for Indian GP – Formula 1 news
McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has said it is going be a very tough race for him after being slapped by a three-place grid penalty.
Hamilton ignored the yellow flags during the practice session for the Indian Grand Prix. Even though he had set the fastest lap of the session when the yellow flags were being waved because Pastor Maldonado had stopped in the final sector.
Hamilton though has admitted that he understands why he has been penalised, but that the penalty will affect his chances of a good race result very much.
“Same old same old!” Hamilton said. “I'd engaged the DRS when the yellow flags were out and you're not allowed to... It's not good for the weekend. It doesn't look like we're the quickest at the moment so wherever we qualify, three places further back from
there is going to make our race very tough for us.”
“But it's not impossible, the race is very long, we've got two DRS zones so overtaking is possible, so we'll have to wait and see tomorrow just how quick we are,” he further added.
The Brit though said that the track is good for overtaking and DRS can be triggered in two zones. He said the circuit has high down-force so he is not ruling out a win yet. The tyres seem to be doing a good job as well, so overall he is happy with how things
are looking at the moment, but the penalty will definitely hurt his chances of a good showing.
This is not the first time though that Hamilton has paid a visit to the stewards. A very similar situation occurred at the Japanese Grand Prix practice session, where Hamilton ignored the yellow flags. Stewards though let Hamilton go as the footage and stats
showed that he had slowed down, and because it was a practice run.
During the season as well, Hamilton has had run-ins with Felipe Massa which has caused him to pay visits to the stewards more than he would have liked to.
It remains to be seen where Hamilton would finally stand at the grid in the race on Sunday, but it will make for an interesting qualifiers day on Saturday, October 29, 2011.
Tags: