Lewis Hamilton punished after taking the blame for George Russell’s crash – F1 News round-up

Max Verstappen took victory at the Qatar Grand Prix, but a crash put F1 in the spotlight after the checkered flag.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell clashed at Turn 1 after a lightning start by the seven-time world champion, but Hamilton  accepted responsibility for what happened between his Mercedes teammates.

A lot happened on the grid on a hot and humid night at Lusail, so here’s the best of Sunday’s F1 news.

Max Verstappen wins in Qatar as McLaren takes double podiums

Starting from the most natural position on  race day, Max Verstappen took victory at the Qatar Grand Prix after  another dominant performance in his Red Bull.

He was kept honest by the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, and the Woking-based team claimed its 500th podium as a manufacturer in  the process.

George Russell managed to recover to fourth after his collision with Lewis Hamilton at the start, but the heat and humidity caused huge physical issues for the drivers as some struggled to make it to the finish.

Lewis Hamilton reprimanded and fined after crossing the track

Hamilton took to social media to admit he was at fault for his Turn 1 crash with Russell, which saw the seven-time World Champion retire at the earliest opportunity from the race, finding his team-mate after the race to apologise in person.

But while there was no further action for his crash from the FIA, Hamilton did receive a non-driving reprimand and €50,000 fine (€25,000 of which suspended for the remainder of 2023) for crossing a live track on his way back to the pit lane following the crash.

The stewards’ verdict read:
“During the hearing, [Hamilton] was very apologetic and realized that the situation could have been very dangerous for him as well as the drivers approaching. The Stewards reinforced the fact that crossing a live track can cause extremely dangerous situations and the drivers have to be very cautious about it.”

Sergio Perez labelled with ‘shocker’ performance in Qatar

While Verstappen sailed to victory in Qatar, it was a different Sunday altogether for Sergio Perez, who was hit with three separate five-second penalties for breaching track limits on multiple occasions throughout the race. These violations dropped the Mexican rider to 10th at the end of the race, when he could have been at least two places higher without it.

Christian Horner was then unimpressed, telling Sky Sports F1:
“Checo  had a bit of a shocking race.

“He had a terrible weekend, yesterday’s incident. And then, unfortunately, he received three penalties during the race.

“Without those penalties, when you add 15 seconds to his time, suddenly he falls a lot further down the scoreboard on a day when Lewis doesn’t score, so it’s a Missed opportunity to try to really consolidate this second position.”

Esteban Ocon admitted to vomiting into his helmet at the Qatar Grand Prix
Several drivers had to go to the FIA ​​medical center for post-race treatment due to  the extreme heat, and Esteban Ocon revealed he vomited on his helmet after 15 laps in such conditions.

“Yeah, on lap 15, 16 in two laps, I thought I did it and I felt, damn, sorry for swearing, but it’s going to be a long time coming,” Ocon admitted to Sky F1 when asked Please confirm if this is the case.

“I’ve got it under control, I just try to focus on exactly what I need to do, but I’ve never had that before.

“I can always  do two race distances in the car, that’s always what I train for, but today it was just  hot air and the heat of the engine in the back of the car.

“I don’t think we can see clearly in the cockpit  so the temperature inside the car must be around 80 degrees today. I’m so happy that next year we’ll be back in December.

He is not alone in sharing stories about how physically difficult this race is for the racers.

Fernando Alonso was punished for dangerous actions in Qatar

After an erratic exit at Turn 2, Fernando Alonso sought to rejoin the track but overshot the circuit in doing so, coming dangerously close to Charles Leclerc as he sought to defend his position.  The Aston Martin driver accelerated back when he found himself near Leclerc but was reprimanded for dangerous actions.

The butler said:
“Although car 16 [Leclerc] did not have to take  evasive action, the stewards determined that given the speed and  angle at which car 14 [Alonso] returned to the track, she entered the car in an aggressive manner. danger.”