Hamilton Can Learn From Spa Injustice

So good is Hamilton that it is sometimes easy to forget that he is in only his second season in F1, and sometimes his inexperience shows. And perhaps that is what happened here. In passing Raikkonen where he did, he left the stewards room for doubt, room to make the decision to take away a win that was rightfully his

By Citizen Correspondent Sir Stephen

Date Posted: 09/08/08

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How McLaren star could have avoided race penalty...

It is unlikely Lewis Hamilton will ever get over the feeling of injustice at having his Belgian Grand Prix victory taken away but, in hindsight, he may eventually come to feel that he could have played this one differently. Undoubtedly, in terms of natural justice, Hamilton has been wronged. He drove brilliantly in the extremely difficult conditions at the end of the race at F1’s most demanding circuit and deserved to win.

However, race stewards deprived him of victory by handing him a 25-second penalty... for taking an advantage by cutting a chicane, demoting him to third place behind title rival Felipe Massa of Ferrari and BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld. It is easy to see, though, how Hamilton could have avoided getting himself into this situation by being just a little bit more savvy.

McLaren knew their driver had created a potential problem for himself when he cut the Spa-Francorchamps circuit’s Bus Stop chicane at the end of lap 42. The team immediately got on the radio to tell him to let Raikkonen back past as they entered the pit straight. In the circumstances, the smart thing for Hamilton to do would have been to follow the Ferrari through the subsequent La Source hairpin and use his speed advantage in the slippery conditions to pass Raikkonen at the end of the long straight up the hill to the Les Combes chicane.

Hamilton, though, is a born racer. That’s what makes him so exciting to watch. And the temptation to pass Raikkonen as soon as possible was too strong.