Masi: Hamilton seatbelt fine about 'sending a message' on safety

FIA race director Michael Masi says the fine levied upon Lewis Hamilton for undoing his seatbelts on his cool down lap in Sao Paulo was not about preventing drivers from celebrating.

After conquering his 101st Grand Prix win last weekend, Hamilton pulled to the side of the track on his cool down lap to pick up a Brazilian flag to honour the memory of his idol, the great Ayrton Senna.

But in doing so the Mercedes undid his seatbelts, which was frowned upon by the stewards who fined Hamilton €5,000 for the maneuver.

The officials noted in their statement that while they are sympathetic to a driver's desire to celebrate, it is also "fundamentally unsafe to undo the seatbelts while the car is in motion. Slow speeds in these cars are very fast for an unrestrained occupant.

"Further, F1 drivers set the example for junior categories. It is critical that junior category drivers learn the importance of using all the safety devices of the car at all times."

Commenting on the stewards' decision, Masi stressed that while a driver loosening his seatbelts while still on track was tolerated, undoing them completely was "not acceptable".

"Obviously, everyone knows that rule, it's been discussed before as well, probably, I'm going to guess about 18 months ago,” said Masi.

"And then I'm well aware that it was discussed in Charlie's [Whiting] time, drivers were reminded that, obviously, on cool down laps, there's no problem loosening their belts, but they need to remain fully attached.

• Read also: Mercedes requests 'Right of Review' of Verstappen/Hamilton incident!

"And it is a safety item. I think the stewards have made it quite clear in their decision, that it's not about stopping celebrations at all.

"But at the pinnacle of motorsport, it's a safety issue, but also it's sending a message all the way through that that type of behaviour is not acceptable."

On that basis, it will be interesting to see if the FIA accepts Mercedes' right of review of the incident involving Hamilton and Max Verstappen in last Sunday's race, and whether running another driver off the track is a behavior that is "acceptable". Curious minds would like to know...

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