Lewis Hamilton Receives Warning, Mercedes Fined €15,000 Following Logan Sargeant Near-Miss in FP2
Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has been warned by the FIA and the Mercedes team has been fined €15,000 after a tense incident during the second free practice session of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix FP2. The event took place at Jeddah’s Corniche Circuit and Williams driver Logan Sargeant was involved in a near miss.
During FP2, Hamilton found himself on the racing line, driving slowly through Turn 10 as he tried to make room for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. However, at this crucial moment, Sargeant was in the middle of a qualifying simulation and was rapidly closing in on the Mercedes. The American driver had to perform a spectacular evasive maneuver to avoid the impending collision, showing excellent control to avoid Hamilton and the track’s outer barrier.
After a thorough investigation, race stewards decided to fine the Mercedes team €15,000 for a significant omission in failing to warn Hamilton of Sargeant’s fast approach during the flying lap.
In their statement, the stewards wrote: “After hearing from the driver of car 44 (Lewis Hamilton), the driver of car 2 (Logan Sargeant), team representatives and reviewing the position/signal data, we determined that the 44- and car blocked car 2 in turn 11.”
“As a result, car 2 had to perform an evasive maneuver to leave the track to avoid a collision. Otherwise, a serious high-speed accident would have occurred. After listening to the team’s radio communications, it became clear to us that car Team 2 44 did not warn its driver, that car 2 arrives in a flying circle.”
The caution was for the Hamilton driver and highlighted a significant setback for the team given the speed of the track and the nature of Turn 11, which is at the end of a series of high-speed corners where drivers’ visibility is reduced.
The completion of the FIA review allowed Hamilton to continue his race at the weekend with no further concerns other than the caution he received. The incident, while tense, did not result in serious consequences and both drivers emerged unscathed from a potential high-speed collision.
