Lewis Hamilton Receives Formal Warning as Ferrari Struggles Persist at Austrian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton’s rocky debut season with Ferrari continued on Friday after he received a formal warning from race stewards during the second practice session of the Austrian Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion finished 10th and was investigated for impeding Kimi Antonelli — the young Italian rookie now driving for Mercedes — at Turn 4 of the Red Bull Ring circuit.
The incident occurred when Hamilton, on a slow lap, drifted onto the racing line unaware that Antonelli was rapidly approaching behind him. As the two drivers passed, Hamilton raised his hand to apologise. He later told stewards he had not seen Antonelli coming as he crested the hill at Turn 4, despite being informed by his team.
Following a discussion, the stewards issued a formal warning — a typical penalty for incidents of this nature during practice sessions. According to their statement, Hamilton “was constantly checking his mirrors after being informed by the team, but slowly moved onto the racing line, thereby unnecessarily impeding Car 12 (Antonelli), which had to take evasive action.”
This marks Hamilton’s third formal warning of the season. Earlier, he received a three-place grid penalty at the Monaco Grand Prix after impeding Max Verstappen during qualifying, due to an error in communication from his race engineer.
On Friday, Hamilton also reported gearbox issues as he tested a new floor design on his Ferrari. Meanwhile, teammate Charles Leclerc fared better, finishing fifth — although still six-tenths off McLaren’s Lando Norris, who set the pace.
News Source : Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.
