Lewis Hamilton’s heart “sank for a second” as he accidentally ran over a Ferrari mechanic during a pit stop at the Belgian Grand Prix, triggering a €30,000 fine for the team and a flashback to Kimi Raikkonen breaking a mechanic’s leg years earlier.
The seven-time world champion was released from his pit box at Spa-Francorchamps after being shown the green light, only for a crew member — who had been attempting a late front wing adjustment — to step into the path of the front right tyre. The mechanic fell but was not injured.
“Ferrari fined €30k after Hamilton hits mechanic in pit-lane scare; mechanic unhurt.”
“The green light went, and so I went. You’re looking over here [at the light] and not over there [at the mechanic],” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. “That’s more on the team, ultimately. But when it happened, I noticed him and I stopped and what went through my mind at that moment was when Kimi hit and broke the leg, and my heart really sank for a second.”
The incident occurred during a chaotic race for Hamilton, who had already been handed a five-second penalty for a first-lap collision with his Mercedes teammate George Russell — forcing Russell to retire. Hamilton served the penalty during the same pit stop, and the FIA stewards later ruled that while the team had committed an “unsafe release”, no sporting penalty would be imposed on Hamilton. Instead, Ferrari were fined €30,000, with €10,000 suspended for 12 months on condition they submit a report within 14 days on protocols to prevent a repeat.
A stewards’ notice stated: “As Car 44 was being released from its pit stop, a mechanic stepped in the path of the front right tyre as the F1 car moved forward. He fell but was not injured.” The team explained the incident occurred in “a complex and unusual combination of circumstances” involving Hamilton’s penalty, which had to be served before work could begin, and his request for a front wing adjustment.
Hamilton finished fourth but admitted the weekend was defined by errors. “I damaged the car, then when they rebuilt it, they missed the suspension so the balance was completely different,” he said. “I was three-tenths slower; it was a domino effect from a mistake from myself. … I think without the damage … we could have challenged for the win.”
Despite the disappointment, Hamilton moved up to second in the championship standings, 45 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli, after Russell’s retirement. The next race is the Hungarian Grand Prix next weekend, the final round before the summer break.
“This weekend was unfortunate,” Hamilton added. “There’s still a long way to go, can’t afford weekends like this in terms of my performance yesterday [crash in practice], so am going to step it up in performance level next week.”