F1 News: Lewis Hamilton's Italian GP Penalty Compared To Leclerc - "FIA Biggest Hypocrites"

If you look at both incidents closely, you should come across a few obvious differences.

Fans have been divided over a penalty that was handed to Lewis Hamilton when his Mercedes came in contact with Oscar Piastri's McLaren during last weekend's Italian GP at Monza. Though Hamilton was awarded a five-second penalty, an incident from 2019's Italian GP was dealt with differently by the FIA when Charles Leclerc was let off with just a warning when he pushed Hamilton's Mercedes into the run-off area when the British driver tried to overtake from the outside. 

It wasn't only the fans who protested during the 2019 incident. Leclerc deliberately pushed Hamilton to go off the track. The Mercedes driver did his best to avoid contact and thus, drove off into the run-off area before he got back onto the track to continue his charge. Leclerc received a Black-White Flag warning, signaling him to not repeat a move like that again. 

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Calling the punishment unfair, Hamilton said:

"We've just constantly asked for consistency [in the rules]. There was a rule put in place and it wasn't abided by today.

"They used different consequences for the rule today but I don't really know why that was the case. I guess the stewards woke up on a different side of the bed this morning.

"It's racing I guess. I had to avoid colliding with him a couple of times but I guess that's how the racing is today."

Fast forward to the 2023 Italian GP from last weekend where Hamilton had the inside line as he tried to pass Piastri just after Curva Grande. The McLaren and Mercedes cars came in contact with each other, thus forcing both drivers to take the escape road at the Variante della Roggia Chicane.

The FIA stewards noted the incident and handed over a five-second penalty to Hamilton. Luckily for him, he pulled a seven-second lead in front of Alex Albon causing him to stay in sixth place. Piastri meanwhile had to lose his spot since he was forced to pit for a damaged front wing replacement.

Hamilton apologized to Piastri for the incident: “It was totally my fault, and I went and apologized to him."

The post on X accuses the FIA of targetting Hamilton. But, if you analyze both incidents properly, you'll realize that they're quite different from each other and hence can't be looked at with the same lens. 

The 2019 incident saw dangerous driving from the race leader who managed to push the car in P2 onto the run-off area. However, there was no contact between the cars. Secondly, none of the cars in question were forced to pit as a result of the skirmish.

Coming to the 2023 incident, the overtaking car came in contact with the car on the outside line which not only damaged the front wing but also caused him to lose position. 

There were a few reactions to the tweet that perceived both incidents without bias. Here are a few noteworthy comments.

Well explained in short..

Point to be noted.