Warning For Hamilton, €10,000 Fine For Ferrari: Verdict Reached In Bortoleto Impeding Case

The FIA stewards have ruled on the incident between Lewis Hamilton and Gabriel Bortoleto in second practice at Sepang. Hamilton received a formal warning, while Ferrari were fined €10,000 (around £8,500).

The incident took place at Turn 9 during FP2. Hamilton, travelling at roughly 80-85 km/h, moved from the middle of the track towards the racing line. Audi's Bortoleto, who was on an out lap, was approaching from behind at around 240 km/h. The closing speed reached 155-160 km/h, and Bortoleto had to brake and take evasive action.

Hamilton said his right-hand mirror was broken. The stewards confirmed this through photo and video evidence and treated it as mitigation. The fact that Bortoleto was not on a push lap and stayed in control was also taken into account. Even so, the stewards concluded that moving onto the racing line at low speed in front of a much faster car was unnecessary impeding. They also considered whether it should count as dangerous impeding because of the speed difference, but since Bortoleto remained in control, they settled on the standard practice penalty, a warning.

Ferrari's fine was for failing to give a radio warning. The team knew about the damaged mirror, and the stewards said they should have warned Hamilton about faster approaching cars whether or not those cars were on push laps. Team representatives had argued that warnings are not normally given for cars on out laps.