Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has been cleared of allegedly impeding Pierre Gasly in Canadian Grand Prix qualifying, which means the Ferrari driver retains his fifth place on the starting grid.
Hamilton made a trip to the FIA race stewards one hour after qualifying for allegedly blocking Alpine driver Gasly at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. On his first flying lap in Q1, Gasly encountered Hamilton - who was on an outlap - on the run down to Turn 8. Hamilton appeared unaware of Gasly approaching as he weaved to warm up the tyres.
Explaining the incident to the stewards, Hamilton said that both he and his Ferrari team didn't think Gasly was on a flying lap. And because the incident didn't change Gasly's Q1 result, with the Frenchman advancing to Q2, they didn't feel aggrieved by Hamilton's actions.
"The driver of Car 44 explained that he was under the impression that Car 10 was not on a push lap, and his team confirmed that it had the same opinion. The driver and team representative of Car 10 stated they did not consider this to be a case of “unnecessary impeding”. The Stewards therefore determined to take no further action."
