Hamilton visit to FIA in Hungary 'regrettable' - Lowe

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Paddy Lowe says Lewis Hamilton's visit to FIA race director Charlie Whiting after qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix was "regrettable".

Hamilton contacted Whiting on Saturday evening after team-mate Nico Rosberg had taken pole position with a lap which included setting a fastest middle sector despite double waved yellow flags. Rosberg was investigated for the incident some four hours after the end of qualifying, but cleared of any wrongdoing.

With Hamilton admitting he wanted clarification, Lowe says the driver should have trusted the team's instructions and left it up to Mercedes to seek any feedback from Whiting.

"It’s my understanding that Lewis did go and see Charlie but it wasn’t in any way to seek a review of Nico’s lap – it was for his own understanding of what should be done in the future, how that should work for him in the future," Lowe said.

"I think that was regrettable. Personally, he should have kept to advice from the team and we can obtain that from Charlie as necessary. But I don’t think there was any harm done. It was just a misjudgement from that point of view."

Hamilton at the time said he felt he had not influenced the stewards decision to open an investigation into Rosberg's lap.

“I don’t believe I influenced the stewards’ inquiry,” Hamilton said. “But I have spoken to Charlie for clarification because the next scenario when I’m in the same position, which I was, all I have to do is lose a tenth in Turn 8 and even if there is a car facing me, all I have to do is lose a tenth."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.