Steward Salo admits Hamilton penalties 'harsh'
Oct.2 - Mika Salo has admitted he thought Lewis Hamilton's penalties at Sochi were "harsh".
The former F1 driver, who was a FIA steward at the Russian GP, came under fire after Hamilton and his fans accused the governing body of unfairly targeting the six-time world champion.
Salo was also criticised for allegedly leaking information about the penalties to the Finnish broadcaster C More.
Now, he is again defending the stewards' decision amid claims the penalties assigned to Hamilton for illegal pre-race practice starts were too harsh.
"It was a clear violation of the rules, so some sanction had to be imposed," Salo told Iltalehti newspaper.
"We also thought it was harsh, but we acted according to the penalty table."
However, the stewards later rescinded the decision to add penalty points to Hamilton's super licence, which would have moved him perilously close to a race ban.
"After the race, we were showed a radio conversation between Hamilton and the team which said that the team had given permission for the practice start to take place," Salo said.
"It was a communication problem, because Mercedes didn't mean for Hamilton to do the start as far away as he did. They accepted the other penalties," he added.
However, Salo hit back at the notion that Hamilton is routinely targeted by the FIA.
"The stewards have so much information and data at their disposal that decisions always stand up to reasoning," he said.
"A couple of years ago, there was a death threat from the Netherlands when we penalised Max Verstappen, but there was nothing questionable about it. Max committed a clear foul."
Salo also dismissed reports that he is unlikely to work for the FIA again after the latest controversies.
"This is completely voluntary - no one forces me to do it," he insisted.
"The teams chose me for this role and I certainly haven't heard any complaints from them. And the drivers should know that I am the steward judging from the driver's perspective. I'm on their side."
✅ Check out more posts with related topics:
2 x 5 second penalties "too harsh!" Salo, you must be joking!! Next time then, give Hamilton a lollipop instead of a penalty if that will make you happy...
I am tired of the commentators telling us what they want and trying to influence future outcomes.
I want to see the best being the best, not what makes it more interesting for the commentators.
I do think the FIA is trying to drag Mercedes back into the field.
Fully agree. Sometimes the commentators jump into the issue and start to suggest what the minimum penalty should be for an infringement, many times, even before the infringement have been spotted by the stewards. And from their comments, it is obvious that they want these penalties applied just to that "something different and interesting" can happen, never mind fair or equitable
Drivers should know the rules; If they don't, it is their own fault.. If they are given bad advice by their team, that is even worse. Nothing excuses the correct penalties being imposed.
Fair enough. But then the sanctions should be applied equitably and to all who break the rules. Charles Leclerc committed the same infringement at SPA and no one paid any attention. When he took Vettel out of the Styrian GP, no one blinked, but when Hamilton and Albon came together, he gets a race time penalty and points on his licence. I guess you can still call that "correct penalties" being imposed right?
I don't think Hamilton deserved the points on his license, that were rescinded but the drivers and teams are allowed too much leeway. Today's drivers aren't forced to stay in bounds around the track by officials. When they do run out of road there are escape routes instead of gravel and grass so they keep on racing with very little penalty. F1 makes a joke of having to maintain speed during qualifying by requiring an minimum average speed so drivers still mope around backing up cars and ruining others laps. There should penalties for this stuff, stiff enough to get it under control.
A bit belated but still welcome. Everyone who is not biased against Hamilton clearly saw that the decisions were harsh.
The penalty was correct you have to enforce the rules hard enough to put a stop to it and make the drivers & teams think twice about breaking the rules the same with track limits stop giving them leeway all four wheels over the white line=off track give them a penalty simple. Remember it there was no advantage being over the line they wouldn't do it
Even one of the stewards is saying it was harsh.Thats coming from a former F-1 driver.