Among the thousand points of controversy that the Abu Dhabi weekend gave in December there could also have been the penalty to Lewis Hamilton for a can impeding on Nikita Mazepin during PL3. In fact, on Saturday morning of the Yas Marina weekend, Sir Lewis came out of the pits and forced the Russian from Haas to lift his foot. The pit lane, however, was on the trajectory, a circumstance that ‘saved’ the British Mercedes from the third reprimand of the season and the consequent penalty of ten positions on the starting grid. Sanction that would have clearly disadvantaged him in the fight for the title against Max Verstappen.
According to what is learned from Auto Motor und Sport this eventuality will not occur again in 2022. For the upcoming season, in fact, the penalty limit should be moved from three to five. Not only that: the fifth should trigger the sanction only if at least four reprimands have arrived for driving infractions (for example, theimpeding).
A greater understanding that would have two reasons for existing: the increase of races in the calendar (the rule was introduced when the World Championship still included 17 Grands Prix) and the risk of witnessing a season finale influenced by penalties for minor episodes, precisely as happened with Hamilton in Abu Dhabi. In 2021 Sir Lewis had received two yellow cards: the first in Mexico for having cut the track from turn-1 to turn-3 during PL1; the second in Jeddah (in the cover photo), when he did not notice Mazepin’s arrival at full speed in PL3.
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