Did Lewis Hamilton make a jump start at the 2023 F1 Brazilian GP? Rules explored

Lewis Hamilton endured a disappointing race at the 2023 F1 Brazilian GP on Sunday, November 5. The Mercedes star finished eighth.

The seven-time world champion had a brilliant start, easily overtaking a few cars to put himself in third place before the red flag came out due to several crashes in the midfield.

Many on social media were quick to claim that Lewis Hamilton had a jump start at the beginning of the race. A view from Lando Norris' on-board seem to show that Hamilton moved just a tiny bit before the five red lights went off. A clip of the moment was circulated on social media platforms and prompted many fans to react.

Even though these smaller details are usually captured and investigated by the FIA, the stewards did nothing in this particular case. This was because Hamilton did not trigger the jump start sensor, which is located on every car and in every grid position.

Lewis Hamilton's car moved within the boundary of the grid itself and did not cross the white line, thus avoiding the jump start alarm from being set off.

A similar case was witnessed back in 2020 at the Hungarian GP, where Valtteri Bottas did the exact same thing at the start of the race. At that time, Race Director Michael Masi stated that the transponder fitted inside each car and the sensor on each grid box is the main deciding mechanism for investigating a false start. He said:

“The means by which a false start is determined is clearly detailed in the sporting regulations and has been the same process for a number of years. The transponder that’s fitted to each car is the judgement mechanism and there is a sensor in the road in the track as well.”

Since the transponder fitted inside the car is the judgment mechanism for jump starts, the seven-time world champion got away with moving inside his grid box at the start of the Brazilian GP. Despite the movement and a great start, Hamilton was unable to finish higher than eighth.

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Lewis Hamilton on battling anxiety from social media

Lewis Hamilton recently opened up about how he has been working on his mental health by going for therapy, reading more, and even meditating. Speaking to Sky Sports F1, he said:

"I have never spoken about it, but I've had to do a lot of work in the back. Whether it's working through therapy, whether it's taking on like finding different outlets, whether it's, reading more, whether it's doing meditation, whether it's trying to pull in more tools to my arsenal so that I can deal with the challenges that I'm facing."

The seven-time world champion also stated that he has reduced his use of social media due to anxiety. He said:

"You know, you don't see me on social media a huge amount because there are anxieties that I have."

Lewis Hamilton had previously taken a long break from social media after the 2021 F1 season following his controversial championship loss to Max Verstappen.