FIA confirm Mercedes PUNISHMENT after Hamilton incident

The FIA have issued Lewis Hamilton a warning and fined Mercedes after his incident with Logan Sargeant in FP2 in Saudi Arabia.

Fernando Alonso looked strong in his Aston Martin during Thursday’s practice, finishing second in FP1 and topped the timesheets in the second session.

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However, FP2 was filled with traffic problems on the circuit and several drivers came close to colliding on the fast-paced track.

Mercedes fined over Sargeant incident

Williams’ Sargeant was on a flying lap when he encountered Hamilton at turn 11 in the middle of the track.

The American was forced to take evasive action off the track to avoid the slow-moving Mercedes and was left unimpressed over the team radio, saying: "Mate, come on. It's too dangerous.”

Hamilton said over the Mercedes radio that he was unaware that Sargeant was on a lap as he trying to let Carlos Sainz past: "I didn't realise someone was on a lap. I was trying to get out of the way for Sainz and all of a sudden there was a Williams there."

The incident was looked at after the session by the stewards and the seven-time champion was issued with a warning and Mercedes were fined 15,000 euros for their part in the incident.

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An official FIA statement said: "Car 2 (Sargeant) had to take evasive action by going off the track to avoid a collision. Had that not been done, there would have been a serious, high speed crash.

"Having listened to the team radio, it was clear to us that the team of Car 44 failed to warn their driver of the fact that Car 2 was arriving on a fast lap. That was a serious failure on the part of the team, particularly given the speeds on this circuit and the nature of turn 11, which is at the end of a series of high speed corners where driver visibility is impaired.

"We therefore issue a warning to the driver and impose a fine of €15,000 to the team."

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