Did Hamilton deserve penalty for “kamikaze” first-lap crash which angered Alonso?

Several drivers believed Lewis Hamilton was to blame for the first-corner collision which occured during yesterday’s sprint race in Miami – and not just those whose races were ruined.

An unimpressed Fernando Alonso even claimed the stewards would have issued a penalty had a Spanish driver done the same thing.

The stewards ruled no single driver was responsible for the collision involving Hamilton, the two Aston Martin drivers and Lando Norris. Were they right?

How it happened

As the field arrived at turn one, the two Aston Martin drivers tangled as Hamilton reached the apex kerb. As Hamilton ran wide from the apex, with a puff of smoke from one of his tyres, the Aston Martin drivers took a tighter line and the cars converged.

Alonso and Hamilton’s onboards show the initial contact between Alonso and Lance Stroll.

Following that collision, Hamilton hit Alonso, pushing him further into his team mate and on into Lando Norris. Hamilton’s onboard shows how wide he was of the apex when that contact was made:

What they said

In the cars

Immediately after the collision Hamilton reported: “I had a touch with the guys.” A lap later, while under Safety Car conditions, he added: “There was a gap on the inside, so I went for it.”

Alonso said “Hamilton arrived like a bull” after he was hit by the Mercedes driver.

Another driver who was not involved in the collision, Nico Hulkenberg, offered a view on it during the Safety Car period: “Jesus, I don’t know what Hamilton was thinking there. That was proper kamikaze.”

After the crash

Hamilton said much the same after the race as he had during it. “Of course, it wasn’t intentional to be touching with anyone,” he said, “but everyone’s pushing as much as possible, and I went for a gap, but then I think those guys went wide and then came back across. So that’s kind of where we connected.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Miami International Autodrome, 2024 — Norris blamed Hamilton for his retirement

However Norris, whose race ended immediately as a result of the collision, laid the blame at Hamilton’s feet: “Lewis dived up the inside and caused the incident,” he said. “Nothing I could do about that.”

The stewards announced during the race no action would be taken over the incident. Alonso said afterwards he thought the Mercedes driver would not be penalised.

“We’ll see what they decide,” he said. “I guess they’re not going to give anything because he’s not Spanish.

“But I think he ruined the races of a few people, Norris especially, which had a very fast car and he was [taken] out in that incident.”

The official verdict

The stewards ruled no driver was chiefly to blame for the collision. They also pointed out that incidents which occur at the very start of the race are generally treated more leniently:

Start, sprint race, Miami, 2024 — The stewards ruled no one was to blame

From the video evidence, it appeared that there were at least three collisions that occurred – the first between cars 14 [Alonso] and 18 [Stroll] and then between car 44 [Hamilton] and car 14 and finally between car 18 and car four [Norris].

While it appeared to us that the incidents began with cars 14 and 18, the sudden and fast arrival of Car 44 contributed to the various collisions. However, we were not able to identify one or more drivers wholly or predominantly to blame for the various collisions or any one of them.

Also keeping in mind that this was in turn one of lap one where greater latitude is given to
drivers for incidents, we took no further action.

Your verdict

Should the stewards have penalised Hamilton? Was anyone else to blame, or was it a first-corner Racing incident?

Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.

Do you agree Hamilton should have been penalised for the first corner collision in the sprint race?

No opinion (0%)
Strongly disagree (19%)
Slightly disagree (19%)
Neither agree nor disagree (0%)
Slightly agree (6%)
Strongly agree (56%)

Total Voters: 16

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