Hamilton: F1 bosses are out to stop me

A fuming Lewis Hamilton accused Formula One executives of being out to get him after a 10-second penalty denied him a record-equalling victory at the Russian Grand Prix.

Hamilton was penalised by the stewards for performing two illegal practice starts in Sochi ahead of a race in which he had hoped to claim his 91st victory to match Michael Schumacher’s all-time tally.

The penalty dropped the Mercedes driver out of contention, with the six-time world champion slamming the decision as ‘‘b......t.’’

With Hamilton out of the way, Valtteri Bottas marched to a regulation victory, crossing the line 7.7 seconds clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Hamilton finished a distant third.

‘‘I’m pretty sure no-one has ever got two five-second penalties for something so ridiculous before,’’ Hamilton said.

‘‘I didn’t put anyone in danger, I’ve done this at a million tracks over the years and never been questioned. But it is to be expected. They are trying to stop me.

‘‘They are also changing rules such as the engine modes [believed to have favoured Mercedes in qualifying], so there are lots of things they are putting in the way to keep the racing exciting. It feels like we are fighting uphill.’’

After roaring to pole position at the Sochi Autodrom, Hamilton headed into yesterday’s race as the favourite to rewrite the record books.

But his hopes went up in smoke just moments after he left his garage when he dialled the Mercedes pit wall to see where he could perform a practice start.

‘‘Can I go out further [of the pits] or not,’’ Hamilton said. ‘‘Affirm,’’ replied Pete Bonnington, his race engineer.

‘‘To the end of the pit wall?’’ asked the world champion. ‘‘Yes, copy,’’ came the reply.

But Bonnington’s call was a breach of the rules, and Hamilton was under investigation before the race had even begun.

Later the stewards reversed their decision to give Hamilton two penalty points. Instead, Hamilton’s Mercedes team was fined £23,000 (NZ$45,000) after explaining that it was at fault for the prerace infringement, and that Hamilton was merely following Bonnington’s instructions.