Lewis Hamilton penalty branded 'harsh' as Ferrari voice surprise

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has admitted surprise over Lewis Hamilton's time penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix.

The seven-time champion was issued a five-second penalty following an opening lap collision with former Mercedes team-mate George Russell.

It was explained by the F1 stewards that a harsher penalty was dodged as they took onboard mitigating circumstances that left Hamilton in a difficult position to avoid contact.

But often, the stewards take a lenient approach to lap one collisions and they are often pinned down as racing incidents.

When asked if he thought Hamilton's penalty was harsh, Vasseur told media including RacingNews365: "Yes, because so far this season all of the incidents of Lap 1 were considered as racing incidents. 

“And on this one, Russell had far enough space to not close on the right and go on the left. 

“At the end of the day, it's not me with the decision.”

Hamilton served the penalty during his pit stop, which sprouted further challenges as he collided with a mechanic as he pulled away from his box.

The team was handed a fine for the ingringement, as Vasseur insisted Hamilton was blameless in the incident.

“The confusion came from the fact that we had a double pit stop, and the front wing adjustment just for the second, and we didn’t want to speak during the five seconds,” he said.

“If we start to speak, the mechanics could have jumped on the car. It’s not the mistake of Lewis.”