Lewis Hamilton reacts furiously to 10-second penalty after Max Verstappen incident at Mexico GP

Lewis Hamilton has reacted furiously to getting a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage during a battle with Max Verstappen at the Mexico Grand Prix. The two world champions were tussling for P3 on lap 6.

Hamilton, who started the race in P3, held onto the position after a four-wide moment into Turn 1 on the opening lap. On lap 6, Verstappen, who was running in P4, made an ambitious overtake attempt on the Ferrari driver going into Turn 1. However, the Red Bull driver carried too much speed into the corner and bumped wheels with his rival.

Lewis Hamilton lost position. However, he attempted to retake P3 into Turn 4. Unfortunately, the seven-time champion locked up his front left tire and went onto the grass, while Max Verstappen made the corner. On the other side of the grass, Hamilton came out in P3.

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton battle for position at the 2025 F1 Mexico Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Because he didn't complete the overtake on the track, the stewards gave him a 10-second time penalty, the standard for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. When Ricardo Adami, Hamilton's race engineer, informed him about the penalty via team radio, the Briton was furious.

"That's such **** man," the 40-year-old replied. "The grip is so small there. The grip there is so low."

Shortly after, Hamilton asked Adami if the "other cars" that cut the grass in Turn 1 on the opening lap, i.e., his teammate Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, were given a penalty.

"What about all the other cars that cheated?" he asked.

Adami replied that the stewards had taken no action over those incidents yet. Lewis Hamilton served his time penalty during his first stop, stopping for 10 seconds in his pit box before the team changed the tires.

Explained: Why Lewis Hamilton got a 10-second penalty but Max Verstappen didn't for seemingly similar incidents

Many F1 fans were left baffled about why the stewards at the Mexico GP gave Lewis Hamilton a 10-second time penalty for cutting the grass, while Max Verstappen wasn't penalized for doing something similar on the opening lap of the 71-lap race.

It is important to note that there was a significant difference between the two moments. Verstappen started the race in P5 and had already overtaken George Russell for P4 way before Turn 1. There was a four-wide moment going into Turn 1, with pole-sitter Lando Norris on the inside, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in the middle, and Max Verstappen on the outside.

Four-wide moment on lap 1 of the 2025 F1 Mexico Grand Prix - Source: Getty

The Red Bull driver's left wheels went marginally off the track. Because there were three cars on the inside and he was nearly pushed outside, he ran straight into the grassy run-off area. While Russell complained about Verstappen cutting the corner on his team radio, it wouldn't mean anything because the Red Bull driver didn't gain position doing so.

He came out ahead of one Ferrari but gave the position back to return to P4, which he had earned after having overtaken Russell on the main straight before Turn 1. Moreover, turn 1 incidents on the opening laps of races aren't taken as seriously by the stewards because chaos is expected, and this has been happening for a long time in F1. The stewards eventually took no further action for that incident.

In Lewis Hamilton's case, the stewards penalized him because he gained position on Verstappen after cutting a corner and the grass. The only seemingly debatable decisions by the stewards could be their not penalizing Max Verstappen for colliding with Hamilton to gain P3 in Turn 1 on lap 6 and then cutting the corner in Turn 3 to hold on to the position.