Mol goes to FIA for disproportionate penalties

F1 News

19 July 2021 at 16:40
Last update 19 July 2021 at 17:19
  • GPblog.com

Ziggo Sports commentator Olav Mol is not happy with the penalty Lewis Hamilton received for his collision with Max Verstappen in the opening lap of the British Grand Prix. Mols told Grand Prix Radio that he will appeal to the FIA.

Introduction of a finishing penalty

Mol considers the ten-second time penalty unsatisfactory and advocates the introduction of a new penalty: a grid penalty. He refers to the penalties that are handed out during qualifying and free practice sessions. A driver who makes a mistake during one of these sessions receives a grid penalty and is placed a number of places back on the starting grid.

Mol argues that it should be possible to hand out a grid penalty during the race. Depending on the penalty, a driver would be put back a number of places in the final result of the race. Hamilton for example would get a grid penalty of three places and would therefore have finished the race in fourth place. According to Mol the current penalties are disproportionate, which is why he now wants to raise this issue with the FIA. 

Hamilton catches up with Verstappen

Hamilton still managed to win the race at Silverstone, so the British driver has gained 25 points on his title rival, meaning Verstappen now has a lead of eight points. After the race, Hamilton was unaware of any wrongdoing and didn't think he was to blame for Verstappen's crash.