After losing the opportunity to win an eighth Formula 1 World Championship title, Lewis Hamilton refused to attend the FIA gala during the awards ceremony. This decision follows the controversy surrounding the final laps of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where Michael Masi’s refereeing sparked controversy.<\/p>\n
However, Hamilton was obliged to attend the gala according to article 6.6 of the sports regulations.<\/p>\n
\u00ab The drivers finishing first, second, and third in the Championship must be present at the FIA annual awards ceremony.<\/p>\n
\u00bb<\/p>\n
The newly elected president of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, spoke about Hamilton’s absence during his very first press conference as president.<\/p>\n
In the end, rules are rules. I have to think about it. Of course, we will also have to follow our rules, but in the meantime, it doesn’t stop us from making sure that a champion feels good in this sport, you know.<\/p>\n
“It’s easy to be kind to people and it’s not expensive to be kind. It’s also to motivate people, but definitely, if there’s a failure, there’s no forgiveness in it,” explained Mohammed Ben Sulayem.<\/p>\n
The new president said he wanted to review the facts to determine whether or not to penalize the Mercedes driver. Therefore, Lewis Hamilton may face a fine for his absence at the FIA gala, a sanction that still needs to be examined by the FIA president before making a decision.<\/p>\n
\u00ab Forgiveness is always there, but the rules are the rules. And I always say, the rules are not made, a human made them and they can be improved and modified by humans. So the rules are there to be improved. \u00bb<\/p>\n
“I know that Lewis is really sad about what happened,” “I would say he is devastated. But we need to see if there is a loophole [in the rules]. After a few hours now as president, I can’t give answers without going back to the facts,” concluded Mohammed Ben Sulayem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Only one day after his election, Mohammed Ben Sulayem is already considering taking action. And to start with, it would be Hamilton who would bear the consequences for not attending the FIA gala.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":35831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1749],"tags":[370,841,1004],"class_list":["post-7477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","category-news","tag-fia","tag-hamilton","tag-mohammed-ben-sulayem"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n