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The first corner of Saturday morning’s sprint event proved dramatic as an aggressive inside move from Hamilton set off a chain of events.
On the outside, Fernando Alonso had tried to make room, but was eventually hit and pushed wide towards his own Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll – who in turn sent McLaren’s Lando Norris into a spin which knocked him out of the race.
Stroll also retired shortly after due to damage he sustained, while Alonso had to stop to change tires after suffering a puncture.
Hamilton was able to continue without any problems but, although he finished eighth on the road, he was ultimately knocked out of the points following a speeding violation in the pit lane.
After the race, Alonso had been outspoken in suggesting that Hamilton would escape punishment because “he wasn’t Spanish” – a reference to the fact that he himself had been sanctioned for his conduct in Australia and China where he felt he had done nothing wrong. .
In a statement later released by the FIA stewards, they explained that they had decided not to take any action mainly because it was impossible to judge that a driver was “mainly or entirely” responsible for what had happened.
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR24, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24 and Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, collide at the start of the Sprint
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
The statement said: “From the video evidence, it appeared that there were at least three collisions – first between cars 14 (Alonso) and 18 (Stroll), then between car 44 (Hamilton) and car 14 and finally between car 18 and car 4 (Norris).
“While it seemed to us that the incidents had started with cars 14 and 18, the sudden and rapid arrival of car 44 contributed to the various collisions.
“However, we have not been able to identify one or more drivers who are entirely or primarily responsible for any or all of the individual collisions.”
The stewards also said they treat first-corner incidents much more leniently than collisions that occur later in a race.
They added: “Also keeping in mind that it was Turn 1 of the first lap where greater latitude is given to drivers in the event of incidents, we took no further action. »
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