F1: Bernie Ecclestone Says Hamilton Should Have Received A 30 Second Penalty

Hamilton was penalised for the impact with a 10-second penalty but the 90-year old believes that he should've received an even harsher penalty.

By Sahil Gupta

1 mins read

Published on July 22, 2021

Highlights

Ecclestone believes that Hamilton should have got a 30 second penalty
He believes that the penalty didn't fit the crime
Ecclestone conceded in the old days this would've been a racing incident

Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has given his verdict on the polarising British GP which saw 7-time world champion winning the race for the 8th time. Hamilton who was trailing championship leader Max Verstappen had a high-speed collision at the copse corner which resulted in the Red Bull of Verstappen crashing with an insane 51G impact. Hamilton was penalised for the impact with a 10-second penalty but the 90-year old believes that he should've received an even harsher penalty. "Who was to blame? You have to say, Lewis. In the old days, we would have said it was one of those things, a racing incident. It was clear everyone was doing his best to win the championship. But if the stewards needed to get involved then they should have given Lewis more than a 10-second penalty. It should have been 30 seconds," he told the Mail. The F1 paddock is split on weather the incident was a pure racing accident or an error on the world champion's part "Lewis wasn't in front at the point they collided. It wasn't his corner. He was almost a car's length behind. That's why he hit him at the back, not the front. Ten seconds wasn't right. The punishment didn't fit the crime. If you have to give a sanction, which in some ways they didn't need to, this wasn't the right decision - it wasn't enough," he added. Hamilton won the race despite damage which Mercedes revealed would've caused a retirement for the Briton. Mercedes was able to fix Hamilton's car thanks to the red flag that was caused by the massive crash that led to a standing restart. Hamilton dropped to P4 after he served his penalty but his storming pace on the hard set of tyres ensured that he overtook Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari two laps before the end of the race. In the aftermath of his victory, Red Bull has called for a 1-race ban for the 7-time world champion polarising the fanbase of both Hamilton and Verstappen which even resulted in racial vilification of the Briton who is the only driver of African-American descent in the history of the sport.