Hamilton Urges F1 Rule Shift After Austin Controversy

Lewis Hamilton reignites debate over track limits, calling for rule changes following Austin’s Verstappen incident, reminiscent of 2021.

Lewis Hamilton questions why the track limits debate has resurfaced following a new incident with Max Verstappen. The Mercedes F1 driver recalls enduring the same issue throughout the 2021 season, notably during Verstappen’s defensive move in Brazil, which took them far off track.

“I’ve felt this way for a long time. It’s funny that people are talking about it now because it’s exactly what happened to me in 2021,” Hamilton smiles. “Take Brazil as an example—the car lets off the brakes, is ahead but misses the turn, and you have to go very wide to avoid contact.”

He believes drivers should be penalized for going off-track to defend and suggests potential changes to the stewarding system.

“This has always been a grey area, which is why Max got away with it for so long. They probably need to make some adjustments, no doubt. Something has to be done because it’s happening too often now, and you shouldn’t be able to let off the brakes, miss the corner, and still hold your position.”

“We also have inconsistencies in decisions, week after week. As a sport, we need to improve across the board, and if you look at other global sports, they have full-time referees, for example, and I’m sure that wouldn’t be a bad thing for our sport.”

George Russell was penalized on Saturday and feels he deserved it, as did Lando Norris on Sunday. However, he’s surprised Verstappen wasn’t penalized: “Looking back, my penalty was right by the book, and so was Lando’s as he went off-track to overtake.”

“But Max braked too late, didn’t make the corner, and probably should have been penalized. But there’s no rule that says if you brake too late, you’ll be penalized, and there probably should be one.”

In fact, there is indeed a rule in the International Sporting Code stating that drivers must stay within the track’s white lines to execute maneuvers. However, Russell also blames the circuits themselves.

“In the same way, if there were gravel, drivers wouldn’t go out there. We’re going in circles; the root cause is the track that allows it. In the short term, we need a change, but it might not be the solution.”

While he understands that regulations can’t anticipate everything, the Briton laments the absence of simple solutions: “We want to be involved, we’re always asked for our views and opinions, but we can’t foresee every scenario because the rulebook would be 100 pages.”

“We need to learn from experience. The regulations are generally good but may need slight adjustments. But my opinion is that if there were grass and gravel, we wouldn’t be having this discussion, and this has been going on for years.”