Lewis Hamilton was reprimanded by the stewards at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after impeding Liam Lawson through the flat-out turns 18 and 19 during second practice on Thursday.
The Racing Bulls driver caught Hamilton in the blind, high-speed section near the end of the lap. Lawson fumed over team radio, calling the near-miss "so dangerous" as he was forced to lift and brake to avoid the slow-moving Ferrari.
"It's just unfortunately the way the regs are that you have a situation like this," Lawson said. "Obviously it's quite sketchy when you're the car approaching — either one of us, to be honest."
The incident stems from a mismatch in battery deployment under the 2026 regulations. Drivers on a flying lap deploy their full energy allocation through the straight section, while cars on out-laps do not, creating a closing speed differential of 60 to 80 kph. Lawson said the gap of two to three seconds normally considered safe is rendered inadequate by the speed difference.
Hamilton had been informed twice by his team that Lawson was approaching, but the seven-time world champion failed to remain on the extreme left between turns 16 and 18 as required by race director Rui Marques' special guidelines issued for this weekend. The stewards determined that Hamilton stayed on the racing line approaching turn 19, forcing Lawson to take evasive action.
"There's not really a lot you can do," Lawson said. "The problem is, if he gets out of the way before 18 and slows down and then if there's another car behind me, then the speed difference is enormous. So it's something we have to look at overnight."
Marques responded by issuing updated traffic-management instructions, requiring cars on out-laps to keep extreme left from turn 16 to turn 18, and extreme right from the exit of turn 19 until they achieve relevant speed for the following lap.
It is Hamilton's second impeding controversy in recent races. At the Spanish Grand Prix, Nico Hulkenberg branded the 41-year-old's driving "nasty" during a similar incident, though Hamilton escaped sanction in Madrid.
Hamilton ended FP2 fifth fastest, 1.3 seconds behind Mercedes' George Russell, with Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc one place ahead in fourth. Lawson finished 12th.
Sources
https://www.racefans.net/2026/09/24/lawson-blames-f1s-rules-for-high-closing-speeds-as-stewards-reprimand-hamilton/ https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1105234/1/lewis-hamilton-investigated-dangerous-incident-angered-f1-rival-azerbaijan-gp
