F1: Lewis Hamilton may have landed Mercedes in trouble by appearing to admit to summer rule break
Ahead of Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, runaway championship leader Hamilton revealed that he had been in communication with his team during the summer break
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes team were contacted by Formula One's governing body on Friday night to clarify whether they broke the sport's rules.
Ahead of Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, runaway championship leader Hamilton revealed that he had been in communication with his team during the summer break.
But Article 21.8 of the FIA's sporting code says that "competitors must observe a shutdown period of 14 consecutive days", forbidding "any work activity by any employee...engaged in design, development or production."
Hamilton, who is 62 points clear at the championship summit, was addressing the ways in which he, and Mercedes, are striving to continue their domination upon the season's resumption here at Spa-Francorchamps.
"We had a bit of dialogue with the team which we generally don't usually have during the break, just trying to see what else we can do to improve," he said.
"Whether it is communication, whether that means arriving one minute earlier to a meeting, or whatever it may be. We are just looking at all areas."
FIA race director Michael Masi was made aware of Hamilton's comments, but the sporting federation stopped short of launching a formal investigation after accepting Mercedes' explanation.
Mercedes said Hamilton was referring to conversations with the team in the week following the Hungarian Grand Prix, and not during the mandatory 14-day shutdown.
Hamilton is this season bidding to close out his sixth world championship, and move to within one of Michael Schumacher's record haul.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments