LEWIS HAMILTON has questioned the “secrecy” from F1 stewards after he was hit with a huge penalty in Mexico.
The seven-time world champion was left fuming after he was slapped with a ten-second time penalty for “leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage” in a fierce battle with his old rival Max Verstappen.
The hefty punishment came after both Verstappen and Charles Leclerc had run wide at the start of the race but were not penalised.
The British 40-year-old had been fighting for a podium but served his penalty and re-emerged all the way back in 14th, before finishing the race in eighth.
When asked if the stewards’ decisions were something he wanted to get a better understanding of, Hamilton said: “There isn’t any clarity.
“I think that’s probably a part of the big issue – transparency and accountability.
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“The secrecy of decisions are made in the background.
“I think it’s something that definitely needs to be tackled, but that’s probably something that needs to be done in the background, I would imagine.
“I don’t know if they’re aware of the weight that their decisions.
“They ultimately steer careers, can decide results of championships, as you’ve seen in the past. Some work needs to be done there.”
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George Russell has also hit out at the decision to not punish drivers for cutting corners in Mexico, slamming it as a “get-out-of-jail-free card.”
The Mercedes driver feels that changes need to be made at the first corners at Mexico’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
He added: “I was very, very surprised to see those drivers get away without penalty.
“I think when you look at Monza, if you miss the chicane, you’ve got to go through the polystyrene blocks, and you lose a lot of time.
“The only solution would be to just gravel that whole section.
“We actually briefly spoke about it before the race weekend.
“I personally think that that corner [in Mexico] just needs to change entirely.”
