Following the conclusion of the F1 2025 Mexico City GP, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur talked to the media about Lewis Hamilton’s race-defining penalty that robbed the 7-time Champion of a strong result.
Hamilton was slapped with a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage after a tussle with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
The duo was engaged in a fight in the opening stages, when on Lap 6, Verstappen launched an overtake on Hamilton. They touched, and Verstappen left the track and rejoined the track ahead of Hamilton. When attempting to re-take position on the entry of Turn 4, Hamilton locked up and cut the corner, re-joining ahead of Verstappen.
The Stewards found that by cutting a corner, Hamilton gained a lasting advantage over Verstappen and thus imposed a penalty on the Briton. Hamilton had to serve the penalty during his first pit stop of the race, which cost him a better result, says Vasseur.
The penalty was too harsh
Ferrari’s team principal doesn’t deny that Hamilton did not adhere to the rules, but questions the severity of the penalty, which was even more punishing due to the nature of the track.
Vasseur also took issue with the fact that Verstappen, who had also cut the corner in his fight with Hamilton, remained unpunished.
“This cost us P4.
“One thing is the penalty, for sure, that we didn’t follow the race director, but 10 seconds, I don’t remember when someone took 10 seconds.
“If you consider, if you have the global picture, saying that Max [Verstappen] cut the corner before, he cut the chicane, in the grass, 100 metres. I think it’s… It’s not very well managed, honestly.
“Because you are in Mexico, on top of this, I don’t say that you have to adapt the penalty to the track, but you also have to understand what you are doing. And to take the 10 seconds, this drops us at the [back of the] queue of the group, and you can’t overtake.
“It’s after the pit stop that you have no issue to recover. This cost us, probably P4, even with the 5 seconds, I think we were still P4, but with 10 seconds, we are here.”
A strong weekend ruined by the penalty
After serving his penalty, Hamilton returned behind a queue of cars led by the Haas of Ollie Bearman, but, with overtaking nearly impossible, he was unable to recover and finished the Mexico City GP in P8.
Despite the disappointing result, Vasseur found positives in Hamilton’s strong performance throughout the weekend. The Frenchman also praised Hamilton for being a vital part of Ferrari’s strong comeback after a string of challenging races.
Given Hamilton’s strong form, Vasseur is convinced the penalty was the only limiting factor in the Mexico City GP.
“We were speaking yesterday about hundredths of a second, or probably a bit less. And from lap to lap, it was either Charles [Leclerc] or Lewis [Hamilton].
“Today, I think it’s more the incident or the penalty and the fight with Max [Verstappen], who cost us five positions, than something else. But the pace from Lewis… Don’t forget that he didn’t do FP1.
“He jumped into the car in FP2, and he was between Norris and Russell. And I’m quite pleased that he’s completely part of the comeback. The emulation that we have in the team is huge, and it’s good for us.”
