The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Hamilton hits out at officials after victory
Briton feared safety car decision would cost him the race
Lewis Hamilton has hinted that Formula One’s race officials attempted to manipulate the result of the Belgian Grand Prix yesterday following an “unnecessary” safety car.
Twenty four hours after Hamilton equalled Michael Schumacher’s alltime pole position record, the Briton, celebrating his 200th race, led virtually every lap here in the Ardennes to halve the deficit to Sebastian Vettel at the summit of the championship.
But Hamilton’s victory, his fifth of this see-saw campaign, came under threat with 14 laps remaining after veteran race official Charlie Whiting deployed a safety car following a collision between Force India team-mates Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon.
Debris from the Force India cars littered the entry to the high-speed Eau Rouge corner and the ensuing Kemmel Straight, and the safety car was sent out to enable marshals to clear the danger.
But Hamilton felt aggrieved that the decision would cost him victory, particularly with Vettel sporting the ultrasoft tyre – the quickest of the three compounds available this weekend – while he was on the soft, the slowest.
“Why have they got the safety car out?” a disgruntled Hamilton said over the radio.
“There is literally no debris anywhere. That’s a bad call from the stewards.”
Hamilton managed to hold off Vettel for what could prove to be a crucial victory.
Indeed his rival would have moved 21 points clear had he managed to win. As it is, the gap stands at seven ahead of next week’s Italian Grand Prix.
“It felt a bit like NASCAR when they kept putting the safety car out for no reason,” Hamilton said afterwards.
“The front wing from the Force India was clear after we slowed down, and they could have done a VSC (Virtual Safety Car) period, but I guess they wanted to see a race. That was for sure the reason they did that. It was unnecessary.
“There was hardly any debris. We did all those laps behind the safety car, and it just opened up doors. In the heat of the moment I am frustrated. I did not have the ultrasoft tyre, and it feels weighed up against you.”
Hamilton spent a nerve-jangling four laps behind the safety car, and just as he did in Azerbaijan earlier this summer, and within his rights, bunched up the pack ahead of the re-start.
On that occasion in Baku, Vettel hit Hamilton in the rear, and then drove alongside his rival before banging wheels. There was no such repeat here as an expert piece of defensive driving from Hamilton ensured victory.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo completed the podium, but there was heartbreak for his team-mate Max Verstappen after his Red Bull broke down in front of an estimated 80,000 travelling Dutch supporters.
There was misery, too, for McLaren’s Fernando Alonso who parked his car after 27 laps with another apparent Honda engine failure. It marked his seventh retirement of a miserable year.