Lewis Hamilton Calls Out Max Verstappen and FIA After Disastrous Mexico GP

Lewis Hamilton took aim at the FIA and Max Verstappen following his disastrous Mexico Grand Prix.

On Sunday, McLaren star Lando Norris regained the lead at the top of the Formula 1 standings after a dominant performance at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

The Brit led from start to finish as he took the chequered flag more than 30 seconds ahead of the chasing pack.

As a result, he now leads teammate Oscar Piastri by one point with four races to go.

Behind Norris, there were multiple controversial moments, especially during the first few laps.

Heading down to Turn One at the start, the likes of Verstappen and Charles Leclerc went unpunished after going off track and rejoining without losing track position.

Meanwhile, seven-time world champion Hamilton was handed a 10-second penalty for an incident involving Verstappen at Turn Four.

The Ferrari driver went wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen but locked up heading into the corner and had to take to the escape road before rejoining the track.

The action meant he was able to stay ahead of Verstappen, who was then overtaken by Haas driver Oliver Bearman.

Moments earlier, Verstappen made contact with Hamilton and forced him wide at Turn One, though no action was taken against the Dutchman. He also avoided punishment for taking to the grass before Turn Three to stay ahead of Hamilton, who managed to pull back alongside down the straight prior to their Turn Four incident.

However, Hamilton was adjudged to have gained a lasting advantage by going off track, hence the 10-second penalty, which completely ruined the 40-year-old's race. He ended up coming home in eighth place.

Speaking after the race, a dejected Hamilton was far from happy with the sport's governing body, the FIA, and also hinted that Verstappen did the same thing but went unpunished.

Hamilton said: "I am very disappointed with the FIA. He [Verstappen] also went off the track and there was no penalty.

"It was just the cutting. Then I’m the only one to get a 10-second penalty. It was kind of nuts."

He added: "Ultimately I feel very let down by the governing body. It’s double standards as you can tell and it is what it is."

Ferrari issue statement on Lewis Hamilton penalty

In response, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur was also far from impressed with the decision to hand Hamilton a penalty.

He said: "If you have the global picture, saying that Max cut the corner before, he cut the chicane, in the grass, 100 metres. I think it's not very well managed, honestly.

"Because you are in Mexico, on top of this, I don't say that you have to adapt the penalty to the track, but you have to understand what you are doing. He took the 10 seconds. This dropped us at the queue of the group and we can't overtake.

"It's after the pitstop that you have no issue to recover. This cost us, probably P4, even with the five seconds, I think we were still P4. But with 10 seconds."