“SLAM DUNK”: As Penalty Threat Loomed Over Lewis Hamilton Fans Reacted to Yet Another Controversy at the Infamous Yas Marina Circuit

The Abu Dhabi weekend has started, and so have the misfortunes of Sir Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time champion was put under investigation by stewards, as he failed to slow down his W-13 during a Red Flag in FP3.

The practice session was stopped at 28 minutes as AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly lost a part of his front wing. As the red flag came out, all the other cars should have slowed down in order to give some time for the debris to get removed. However, this was something that the Mercedes star failed to do.

That being said, Lando Norris informed his team that Lewis Hamilton overtook two cars. On Turn, 5 Hamilton first overtook the McLaren driver and then also passed through Kevin Magnussen.

Noticing the event, the Briton’s race engineer Peter Bonnington updated Hamilton and told him to slow down. By the time the Mercedes star slowed down, the overtake was noted by the Stewards. Post the incident Stewards updated that the overtake would be investigated after the practice session.

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This investigation could have led Hamilton to face 3 place grid penalty. As things stand, the stewards have cleared the Brit’s name. However, the fans weren’t happy when he was put under investigation initially.

Twitter F1 fans react to the investigation around Lewis Hamilton’s red flag incident

In his magnificently long career, Hamilton has visited the stewards a number of times. But owing to the sensitivity of the moment, fans didn’t want stewards to hand over the penalty to their beloved driver.

There were two factors that marked the delicacy of the moment: the first is the Silver Arrows are fighting for second place in the constructor championship, and the second is Lewis Hamilton is on the verge of going winless this season. In both cases, fans would have gotten their hearts broken if the stewards had penalized the Briton.

Given below are some reactions to the incident.

Some fans are trolling the FIA, remembering what happened last year at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Yas Marina Circuit became one of the most controversial circuits, as there also Hamilton was involved.

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The main race will take place on Sunday, until then the Silver Arrows will hope that Hamilton and Co. should not be involved in any type of controversy. Do you think Hamilton can break the drought of wins and can add 1 more Grand Prix to his tally of 103?