Former F1 presenter Will Buxton has called out David Coulthard’s “bulls**t” claim that Lewis Hamilton’s British GP penalty was harsh after the Ferrari driver received a five-second time penalty for a false start.
Lining up third on the Silverstone grid behind Kimi Antonelli and his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, Hamilton made the smallest of movements inside his grid box. But it was enough to trigger a false start investigation.
Will Buxton rejects David Coulthard’s Lewis Hamilton penalty criticism
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The Ferrari driver was found to have moved on the third of five red lights, and was handed a five-second penalty.
The stewards’ verdict read: “The Stewards determined that after the third red light was illuminated, and before the start signal was given, Car 44 moved.
“This was clearly visible on the on-board footage by reference to the yellow Pirelli lettering on the tyre, which rotated upwards and forwards before the lights were extinguished.
“The fact that the movement was limited does not negate the infringement. Any such movement in that interval constitutes a false start / moving before the start signal.”
As such, Hamilton breached Article B5.11.1 of the regulations.
However, former F1 driver Coulthard felt the penalty was harsh as it was the smallest of movements.
Speaking on the Up to Speed podcast, he said: “There were penalties that I felt were harsh.
“The Lewis sneeze of his Ferrari. The car definitely jolted.”
Buxton, who joined him for the post-Silverstone edition, disagreed.
“When you were saying this on commentary, I was shouting at the TV,” he said. “I was like, ‘Come on, DC, that’s bullshit. You know it’s bullshit. You know the rules. You know the rules.'”
“But anyway,” Coulthard continued, “I think that he hadn’t gone outside his box.”
Buxton again shot that down.
“No, but it’s as soon… Come on, man. As soon as those lights go, if there’s any movement inside the box, it’s a slam dunk.
“Yeah, it is a slam dunk.”
Coulthard replied: “It doesn’t make it right, anyway I felt it was harsh.”
Moving on from whether the penalty was harsh or not, both Buxton and Coulthard were impressed by how Hamilton saved
“One thing I will say is,” said the former F1 presenter, “what about Lewis’s reaction times because anybody else gets that that little leap and then they pull the clutch, right?
“The start’s done and they’re dropping back.
“For him to have the awareness, the speed of…”
“Young hands,” chipped in Coulthard.
“To pull that clutch, keep his brain in it, still get the start that he did. I thought that was absolutely phenomenal.
“Lewis, to have that little move, save it, and still be able to make the monster start he did – shapo.
“But rules is rules, mate, you know that.”
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Ferrari, though, isn’t sure it was a penalty as the team’s sensors didn’t note the car moving in the box.
Speaking to PlanetF1.com and other media outlets, team principal Fred Vasseur said: “From the sensors we don’t see the car moving on the grid but it’s true that on the video you see the sticker on the tyres moving a little bit. It’s not me judging if it’s a false start or not.
“I think it’s a bit harsh when the sensors are not moving.”
Hamilton, who had been running second in a Ferrari 1-2 late in the Grand Prix, dropped from P2 to P3 when he was called in for a late pit stop after Max Verstappen brought out the Safety Car for spinning into the gravel at Stowe on Lap 48.
The race was not resumed, with Hamilton third in the classification behind Leclerc and George Russell.
Hamilton sits third in the standings on 147 points, 32 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
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