Source:REUTERS/EDGAR SU
[Saba Sports News] During the 2009 season, there was an incident
involving Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time F1 world champion. At the Australian
Grand Prix, Hamilton’s team allegedly instructed him to provide false
information during an interview. This led to his disqualification from the
race. The incident occurred when the safety car was deployed, and overtaking
was not permitted. Hamilton overtook Jarno Trulli of Toyota, who had gone off
track, but later Trulli overtook Hamilton to reclaim his position. After the
race, both drivers were summoned by the stewards. It was determined that
Hamilton’s overtaking of Trulli while he was off track did not count, and
Trulli’s subsequent overtaking violated regulations, resulting in a 25-second
penalty. Trulli’s ranking dropped, and Hamilton moved up to third. However,
during an interview, Hamilton admitted that he had allowed Trulli to pass him
as per the team’s instructions but failed to mention this during the
investigation by the FIA. The FIA reopened the case, considering Hamilton’s
previous testimony as deliberately misleading. Consequently, Hamilton was
disqualified from his third-place finish in the Australian Grand Prix and also
faced disqualification from the next race.