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Lewis Hamilton‘s afternoon at the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix was already complicated – a five-second penalty for the first-lap collision with George Russell, a front wing that never got the adjustment he wanted – before things got genuinely frightening in the pit lane.
During his only stop of the race, run under virtual safety car conditions, Hamilton pulled away from the Ferrari box after the automatic release signal turned green. What he didn’t know was that a mechanic was still alongside the car, attempting a late front-wing tweak that had apparently been requested but never properly communicated to the crew. The front-right tyre struck the mechanic, knocking him to his knees. Following the incident, Hamilton got straight on the radio to his engineer Carlo Santi, saying: “**, is he okay? It went green!”
He was told everyone was fine. Ferrari confirmed the mechanic was uninjured. But the incident was never going to stay quiet, and race control flagged it for a post-race stewards’ investigation.
Speaking after the race, Hamilton was open about where he thought responsibility sat. “I noticed it the moment it happened and stopped immediately. In that instant, my mind went to the time a mechanic suffered a broken leg during one of Kimi’s [Räikkönen] pit stops. That moment really made my heart skip a beat, but thank goodness I learned he was okay.”
On why it happened at all: “I don’t know what happened. The green light came on, and I went. Your eyes are on the light, you’re not looking at the mechanics. This is ultimately probably the team’s responsibility.”
Drivers commit to the signal, not the scene. Stewards will need to determine if the problem stemmed from a failure in the release system, a breakdown in communication regarding the wing adjustment, or whether both factors played a role.
Hamilton was summoned to the stewards at 16:45 local time, and the outcome of that investigation remains pending. A further time penalty was possible, though even if he drops a position in the final results, he sits second in the drivers’ championship on 159 points – ahead of George Russell’s 154 – and 45 points behind Antonelli heading to Hungary.
Kimi Antonelli won the race for Mercedes, his sixth victory from ten rounds, converting pole into a hard-fought win over Charles Leclerc by under two seconds. Verstappen rounded out the podium, with Hamilton classified fourth and Oscar Piastri fifth – McLaren apparently close enough that they instructed Piastri to shadow Hamilton throughout the closing laps, banking on a penalty changing the result.
It was the kind of afternoon where finishing fourth felt like extracting something from nothing. The pit lane moment, though, will linger a little longer than the points.
Continue reading...
During his only stop of the race, run under virtual safety car conditions, Hamilton pulled away from the Ferrari box after the automatic release signal turned green. What he didn’t know was that a mechanic was still alongside the car, attempting a late front-wing tweak that had apparently been requested but never properly communicated to the crew. The front-right tyre struck the mechanic, knocking him to his knees. Following the incident, Hamilton got straight on the radio to his engineer Carlo Santi, saying: “**, is he okay? It went green!”
He was told everyone was fine. Ferrari confirmed the mechanic was uninjured. But the incident was never going to stay quiet, and race control flagged it for a post-race stewards’ investigation.
Hamilton Points to the Green Light – and the Team
Speaking after the race, Hamilton was open about where he thought responsibility sat. “I noticed it the moment it happened and stopped immediately. In that instant, my mind went to the time a mechanic suffered a broken leg during one of Kimi’s [Räikkönen] pit stops. That moment really made my heart skip a beat, but thank goodness I learned he was okay.”
On why it happened at all: “I don’t know what happened. The green light came on, and I went. Your eyes are on the light, you’re not looking at the mechanics. This is ultimately probably the team’s responsibility.”
Drivers commit to the signal, not the scene. Stewards will need to determine if the problem stemmed from a failure in the release system, a breakdown in communication regarding the wing adjustment, or whether both factors played a role.
A Chaotic Race That Still Moved Hamilton Up the Championship
Hamilton was summoned to the stewards at 16:45 local time, and the outcome of that investigation remains pending. A further time penalty was possible, though even if he drops a position in the final results, he sits second in the drivers’ championship on 159 points – ahead of George Russell’s 154 – and 45 points behind Antonelli heading to Hungary.
Kimi Antonelli won the race for Mercedes, his sixth victory from ten rounds, converting pole into a hard-fought win over Charles Leclerc by under two seconds. Verstappen rounded out the podium, with Hamilton classified fourth and Oscar Piastri fifth – McLaren apparently close enough that they instructed Piastri to shadow Hamilton throughout the closing laps, banking on a penalty changing the result.
It was the kind of afternoon where finishing fourth felt like extracting something from nothing. The pit lane moment, though, will linger a little longer than the points.
Continue reading...
