FIA reveal 'extensive inspection' of Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari after Barcelona GP
The FIA conducted an 'extensive inspection' of Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari after the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, it has been revealed, after his car was randomly selected.
Hamilton won his first Grand Prix since Belgium in 2023 by taking the chequered flag in Barcelona.
It was his first win since joining Ferrari, and moves him to within 41 points of Drivers' Championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
There was a brief concern during the race, after Hamilton was noted for a potential yellow flag infringement following Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin breaking down by the side of the circuit.
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But the seven-time world champion was cleared, and drove a dominant final stint to win the race by 19.5 seconds ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell.
He will look to record back-to-back wins this weekend, with F1 travelling to the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg for the Austrian Grand Prix.
His victory in Spain took slightly longer than normal to be finally ratified, as his Ferrari car was selected at random by the FIA for extensive checks after the Grand Prix.
The FIA are permitted to scrutinise one of the cars that finishes in the top 10 of every Grand Prix.
Thankfully for Hamilton and Ferrari, no issues of compliance were found and all the relevant car parts passed the 'extensive' inspection.
FIA Formula 1 Technical Delegate Jo Bauer and his team checked several key components relating to the rear brake system on Hamilton's car, including brake control software, data logging signals, sensors and the brake by-wire (BBW) system.
"After the race in Barcelona, car number 44 was randomly chosen among the top ten cars for more extensive physical inspections," Bauer stated in an FIA-published document.
"Subject to these physical inspections was the rear brake system.
"On the hardware side, checks were carried out in relation to Articles C11.1, C11.2 (rear only), C11.3 (rear only), C11.4, C11.5 and C11.6.
"On the electronics and software side, checks were carried out in relation to Articles C8.1, C8.2, C11.6 and FIA-F1-DOC-001.
"All inspected components were found to be in conformance with the 2026 Formula One Technical Regulations."
When does the Austrian GP take place?
This weekend's Austrian Grand Prix gets underway at 3pm local time (2pm UK) at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
Three practice sessions will be ran, with the next sprint race weekend being at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone next week.
Unlike in Spain, Hamilton will take part in the first Friday practice session, having been replaced at the Scuderia by reserve driver Dino Beganovic for FP1 in Barcelona.
Instead, his team-mate Charles Leclerc will give up his seat for Beganovic, with Ferrari opting to use Austria to fulfil their rookie driver obligations.
Each of the 22 full-time drivers across the 11 teams must give up their seat on two occasions for rookie drivers - defined as any driver who has competed in no more than two full F1 Grand Prix weekends - across the season.
Five other teams will also work towards meeting the rule in Austria, including Racing Bulls - who will be on three of the four weekends already thanks to Arvid Lindblad meeting the criteria in the first two race weekends of the season - and Williams.
Topics: FIA, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Formula 1
Ryan Smart