Mercedes summoned to stewards over Lewis Hamilton Sprint Qualifying incident at Miami GP
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix.
Mercedes are off to see the stewards in Miami after Sprint Qualifying, due to an apparent team error on Lewis Hamilton’s side of the garage.
The stewards have been kept busy in the hours following Sprint Qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix, with Mercedes summoned before them due to an alleged breach of the rules.
Mercedes receive stewards summons over Lewis Hamilton incident
During SQ2, as Hamilton came into the pits for fresh tyres, Mercedes team members appeared to not have their helmets on as they worked on the W15.
This has led to a summons under Article 34.13 of the F1 FIA Sporting Regulations, “a failure to wear helmets by team personnel during the pit stop at 16:55”.
A Mercedes team representative was summoned to appear before the stewards at 18:10 Miami time, or 23:10 UK time.
It capped off a subdued day of action for Mercedes, with both Hamilton and George Russell eliminated in SQ2. Russell claimed 11th place, just ahead of Hamilton in 12th.
Hamilton made a small error during the Sprint Qualifying session, tapping the wall on the exit of Turn 16, ultimately falling short of making it into SQ3 by less than half a tenth.
“I have got nothing,” said Hamilton over the radio following his premature exit from the session, which determines the grid order for Saturday’s Sprint race.
Hamilton could be seen climbing sadly from his Mercedes, shaking his head as he walked through the garage.
“The car felt really good in FP1, and I was happy with the balance,” Hamilton said after the session.
“Unfortunately, in Sprint Qualifying, the balance changed, and the car regressed. We were close to making it through to SQ3, but we were a decent chunk of being at the front.
“Starting from P12, the Sprint will be tough for us. I am not expecting a huge amount from there as it is not an easy circuit to either follow or overtake at. We will be trying our best to get the car into the points though.”
The W15 has some new updates for this weekend in Miami, with a new upgraded floor body in order to improve airflow to the rear of the car and the diffuser.
Aside from Hamilton, the stewards also summoned Oscar Piastri and Valtteri Bottas over a clash between the pair during SQ1 after the Sauber driver turned in on the approaching McLaren as they negotiated Turn 1. A verdict has not yet been reached.