Lewis Hamilton has been given a five-place grid penalty going into his Italian Grand Prix in red. While this is a real annoyance for the driver, he’s still remaining optimistic as he enjoys his time in front of the passionate Tifosi.
The seven-time world champion received a penalty for driving too fast under double-waved yellow flags during a reconnaissance lap of the Zandvoort circuit ahead of the grand prix.
While he did take action, the FIA deemed it to be not enough, so they reduced the penalty from a 10-place grid penalty to just five places.
Unfortunately for the Briton, the penalty came after the Dutch Grand Prix finished, so has been applied to Monza.
He admitted he was “really, really shocked” with the penalty as he discussed his frustration:
“Of course. I mean, I don’t know how the other drivers have felt about the decisions of the last race, but I mean, I landed back home and then saw that I got this penalty and I was really, really shocked, to be honest. But I mean, it is what it is.
It’s obviously not black and white.
“The fact is, if you look at the report, I did lift, but to their liking, not enough. And so yeah, that’s why it’s, I guess they’re saying not more, but I was, you know, to get the penalty and get penalty points, it’s pretty hardcore.
“But I learned from it and it is, you know, there’s no point whinging about it. I just, I’ll move forwards. It’s going to be challenging this weekend. Qualifying is already, it’s already so close between us all. So just getting the Q3 is tough.
“Getting in the top five is very, very tough. And then on top of that, to then be set back five places is not great when you’re going into your first Monza GP with Ferrari, but, you know, it gives me more to fight for.
“And I’m very motivated to make up those places regardless.”
Despite the knockback, Hamilton is seeing his team’s performance and processes grow as he continues through the difficult 2025 season.
“I think the approach that we had, I think was spot on. And yeah, I tend to, I felt like it was one of our strongest, not the strongest and smoothest weekends up until obviously Sunday that we had had.
“And Sunday was obviously both disappointing and unfortunate. That’s not the result that we want. I said that it’s unusual for me because I don’t really make a lot of mistakes in races like that.
“But the great thing is that the team remained really, really positive. They’re incredibly supportive every single weekend. And so you don’t, even though personally, you don’t feel great about it, they lift your spirits.
“And then the following days, really, they were deep diving into trying to understand what led to it, because it wasn’t a case of me. It wasn’t a case of a lack of concentration. There were several things that contributed to it.
“So, for example, I had a downgraded upshift, which locked the rear wheels and spat the rear end out. But also it was spitting. So there’s, I was like 10 millimeters wider or something like that, or 10 centimeters wider than I was the previous lap.
“So there are a combination of things. Either way, it’s not great. And I learned from it and move forward.
“So if I apply that same approach this weekend and to the following races, I really feel positive of the direction we go.”
Ferrari’s strong practice sessions today suggest it could well be an exciting weekend for the Italian outfit.
The post Why Lewis Hamilton’s 5-Place Grid Penalty Won’t Ruin His Italian GP appeared first on Newsweek.
