Lewis Hamilton Fans Accuse FIA of Costing Ferrari Star a Podium in Imola
Lewis Hamilton enjoyed his best outing in a Ferrari uniform since joining the Italian outfit at the start of the year, in front of his home fans at Sunday's Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
While his arch-rival Max Verstappen claimed victory, the Briton stole the spotlight and was named Driver of the Day.
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The former Mercedes driver started 12th after a poor qualifying on Saturday.
But, with a good combination of race pace and strategy calls by the Ferrari think-tank, he was able to climb his way up to 4th position in the race.
However, it wasn't without controversy.
Lewis Hamilton during the F1 Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai International Circuit.Go Nakamura/Reuters via Imagn Images
On lap 30th, Esteban Ocon stopped his car on the side of the track. This led to the deployment of the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) by the stewards in Imola.
The race marshals first tried to remove the Haas driver's car by the use of a recovery vehicle. But when it failed, the marshals directly moved the car off the track. This frustrated Hamilton, who voiced his frustrations over the radio for apparently wasting laps.
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His fans shared the same sentiment, who also felt the Briton could have challenged McLaren's Oscar Piastri for 3rd place if the race had a few more laps left. They took to social media to vent their anger at the FIA.
One user commented, "Deliberate waste of time with safety car."
Another user said, "If the safety car didn't do so many useless laps, LH44 would have probably finished 3rd." While a third one added, "Telling Lewis Hamilton to not question safety car protocol is a joke."
The FIA's tryst with Hamilton never ceases to provide drama.
Related: Lewis Hamilton Dating History and the High Profile Names in His Life
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