Tension flared between Liam Lawson and Lewis Hamilton during FP2 for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Lawson, the Racing Bulls driver, was forced to take evasive action when Hamilton, on an out-lap in his Ferrari, failed to move off the racing line between Turns 16 and 18. Lawson's frustration was palpable over the radio: "That is so f***ing dangerous. Oh my god. Dude, that is so dangerous."
The race director's competition notes require drivers not on a flying lap to remain on the extreme left from the exit of Turn 16 to the entry of Turn 18. Hamilton, a seven-time F1 champion, was warned twice of the approaching car but failed to move. Consequently, he was summoned by the stewards and given a reprimand for the incident.
In their report, the stewards explained that the normal penalty for impeding during free practice is a warning unless it is dangerous or with intent. "In this case, there was no intent but given the layout and the high-speed corners as well as the specific instructions given by the race director, the impeding in the stewards' opinion was severe," they said. They also took into account the difficulty of managing energy deployment from Turn 16 to Turn 19 and the end of the lap.
Hamilton explained that the act was not intentional and a symptom of the new-for-2026 regulations. "I was just with Liam. Naturally, it's never an intention I think from any driver to get in the way," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. "Basically, with the way the rules are set... when you come around the last corner to start your lap, you have no K, so you have no battery deployment. You just have the ICE (internal combustion engine) basically. So something like 500hp less."
He added, "There's no guidelines also of how big a gap you have to understand the closing speed that you're going to have with a guy that's on their [flying] lap. I was four seconds ahead. I was like 'this looks big enough'. I got on the power and then once I got into [Turn] 18 the speed deficit was huge and there was nowhere I could go at that point. So, unfortunate, but it gives us good guidelines as to what to change potentially for tomorrow. But that's not the driver's fault. That's what the FIA did on the decisions at the beginning of the year."
Lawson sympathised with Hamilton, echoing his sentiment about the controversial regulations. "It's unfortunately the way the regulations are," said Lawson. "It's quite sketchy for either one of us. To be honest, there's not a lot that you can do when you look at it. Lewis is full..." (statement truncated). The incident highlights the new challenges drivers face with the 2026 technical regulations, especially in energy management and speed at fast corners like those in Baku City Circuit.
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