Lewis Hamilton Handed 2 Penalties for Practice Start Incident Before the Russian GP

Lewis Hamilton is not having a good time at the Russian Grand Prix. Hamilton was already under investigation before the start of the race at Sochi. Just 8 laps into the race, Lewis was handed a 5-second time penalty by the stewards for the practice start. To make matters worse, he was slapped with yet another 5-second time penalty in the same lap.

Lewis Hamilton, much like every other driver, indulged in a practice start before lining up on the grid at Sochi. However, he did not do the start in the designated area, which is before the line at the end of the pit lane. Lewis went on to the track to do the start. A transgression that the stewards did not ignore.

The team kicked their race into gear in anticipation of the penalty. However, the stewards caught Mercedes off-guard when the initial penalty was followed by another penalty.

During Lap 17, Lewis pitted from P1 and got rid of the burden of 10 seconds. He ended up 11th after the stop. He made a straightforward move on a struggling Sebastian Vettel. Once the others started to pit, Lewis made his way up to P5.

It will be interesting how he fares from here and takes his fight to Max Verstappen in P2

This is just ridiculous, says distraught Lewis Hamilton

Lewis sounded really beat after he had completed his 10 second time penalty. “This is just ridiculous, man“, said Lewis on team radio.

He is also heard blaming his race engineer for pitting him early. “Well, you stopped me so early. I have to manage now. I’ll struggle to make it to the end,” said Lewis.

Lewis could equal Michael Schumacher’s number of race wins if he wins the race. But that seems almost impossible as Valtteri Bottas leads the race, 23 seconds clear of the runner-up.