During the Dutch Grand Prix qualifying session, Sergio Perez lost it and yelled at Lewis Hamilton, claiming the Red Bull driver was being hindered by his Mercedes competitors.
The Formula 1 stewards penalized Lewis Hamilton after Sergio Perez claimed he was obstructing traffic.
Perez was doing a flying lap during Saturday’s first quarter when the incident occurred. He encountered Hamilton’s sluggish Mercedes, which initially attempted to move aside but ultimately compelled the Mexican to reduce her speed.
Enraged, Perez called for the Briton to face consequences for his actions on the radio. Although he downplayed it in his own broadcast, Hamilton acknowledged following the session that it wasn’t his best performance.
Following his poor qualifying performance, the seven-time Formula One champion appeared dejected as he considered his miserable day. It was a pretty shocking session, he said. But it’s over now; these things happen. It’s not a pleasant feeling at all.
“As soon as the Perez situation arose, everything went wrong. Although I tried my best to move aside and stay as far to the left as I could, the timing wasn’t ideal. It just got worse from there, most likely as a result of a cascading effect.”
After qualifying concluded, race control confirmed that the stewards would be looking into the incident, which they had noticed at the time. Perez and Hamilton were summoned to the circuit offices to present their respective accounts of events.
And they made the decision to punish Hamilton after taking into account all the evidence. The seven-time Formula One champion will start the Zandvoort race from 15th on the grid after they said he had “unnecessarily impeded” the Mexican.
Mercedes put in a strong showing in the weekend’s lone dry practice session, hoping to be in the running for pole position. However, when it counted, Hamilton faltered and was eliminated in the second round, while teammate George Russell could only finish fourth.
Following the session, the seven-time champion gave a somber interview to the media, declaring that his weekend was “done” and that he had little chance of earning significant points in the race. “It’s obviously very, very frustrating, but this is what it is,” he remarked.
“The session was quite shocking. But it’s over now; these things happen. It’s not a pleasant feeling at all. From the moment the situation with Perez arose, everything went wrong. Although I tried my best to move aside and stay as far to the left as I could, the timing wasn’t ideal. It just got worse from there, most likely as a result of a cascading effect.”
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