Frustrated Hamilton lashes out at stewards
Published: 29/05/11, 06:34PM
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Lewis Hamilton lashed out at the FIA stewards following his torrid weekend in Monaco – branding it “an absolute joke” that he was continually being punished for incidents that he claimed were not his fault.
Hamilton was demoted from seventh to ninth on the grid for short-cutting a corner during qualifying, then had to serve a drive-through penalty during the race after he was adjudged the guilty party in a tangle with Felipe Massa’s Ferrari at the Loews hairpin.
He was handed an additional 20s time penalty after the race for his collision with Pastor Maldonado’s Williams at the late-race restart, although since he was the last driver to complete all 78 laps he retained his sixth-place finish.
A clearly frustrated Hamilton told the BBC that he felt he was being unfairly singled out by the officials.
“In six races I’ve been to the stewards five times. It’s a joke, an absolute frickin’ joke.
“You know, you can’t overtake here and very, very rarely do you ever get an opportunity.
“I was quite a lot quicker than Massa, and I went up the inside and the guy turned so early and just turned into me. So I tried to work the kerb to avoid him and we were stuck together.
“Of course I get the penalty, which is usual. He held me up in qualifying and I got the penalty. He turned into me and I got the penalty.
“When I went up the inside of Maldonado, you can see on the screen that he turned in a good car length too early to stop me from overtaking him, and crashed into me.
“I mean, it’s ridiculous. These drivers are frickin’ ridiculous and stupid.”
When asked why he felt he was receiving so much attention from officialdom, Hamilton joked: “Maybe it’s because I’m black. That’s what Ali G says. I don’t know…”
Hamilton believes the stewards’ over-zealousness threatens to stifle the aggressive racing that fans want to see.
“People want to see motor racing, they want to see overtaking, and you get done for trying to overtake, for trying to put on a show,” he said.
“If I really feel that I just braked too late and hit someone, then I will put my hand up. But that was not the case today.”
With Sebastian Vettel taking his fifth win of the year and stretching his championship lead to 58 points, Hamilton admitted he now risked losing touch with the Red Bull driver.
“It’s never too late, but it’s not looking great, I must say,” he said.
“I gave it my all today and the team did a great job to get the car back out and get it fixed for the last few laps.
“I must apologise to the fans for what I think is a bit of a shambles of the experiences they saw with me, but I’ll try my best to bounce back in the next race.”
He added: “The whole weekend has been character-testing – or at least that’s what people say…
“I’ve just got to suck it in, chill, try and enjoy the weather, do some jet-skiing and try not to get in any more trouble.”
