Hamilton hit with 3-spot grid penalty after second review of Q3 incident!

Phillip van Osten 05/07/2020 at 13:1105/07/2020 at 13:46

Lewis Hamilton has been hit with a three-spot grid penalty after the Austrian Grand Prix stewards conducted a second review of the yellow flag incident that occurred in qualifying.

Hamilton was summoned to the stewards on Saturday evening for failing to slow on his fastest lap in Q3 in a yellow flag zone following an off-track excursion of his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton escapes grid penalty for Q3 incident

After hearing Hamilton, who claimed that signaling from the marshals' posts had not been clear, the stewards took no further action.

But a request from Red Bull on Sunday morning has compelled the stewards to give the incident a second review, with a hearing that took place at 1:45pm at the Red Bull Ring.

With more evidence at their disposal, the stewards concluded that Hamilton should have indeed been aware of the caution zone and slowed accordingly.

The three-place demotion elevates Red Bull's Max Verstappen to second on the grid alongside poleman Valtteri Bottas while Mclaren's Lando Norris line up third with Alex Albon in fourth place.

So far, it's been a slam dunk for Red Bull against Mercedes with two protests - DAS and Hamilton - that have caused discomfort in the German camp.