Lewis Hamilton invokes idol Ayrton Senna's iconic quote in reference to his penalty-inducing contact with Sergio Perez

Lewis Hamilton believes the five-second penalty handed to him at the sprint race of the 2023 Belgian GP weekend was harsh. Referring to Ayrton Senna’s iconic quote, the Brit claimed that the clash with Sergio Perez was merely a racing incident.

Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, after the sprint, Lewis Hamilton said:

“Not really much to say, racing incident I think, tried to go up the inside, yep, not much to say. Surprised it was an in-race decision, before speaking to you, yesterday we had to wait?”

He added:

“Yeah. I mean my only thought is it’s tricky conditions out there, we’re all trying our best, and of course it wasn’t intentional. I think I went for a gap, he was slow going through 14, I went up the inside, I was more than half a car length on the inside, and if you no longer go for a gap you’re no longer a racing driver as Ayrton said, so that’s what I did. When I watched it back it felt like a racing incident to me, so yep.”

Using Ayrton Senna’s famous quote about ‘going for a gap when it exists’, Lewis Hamilton defended his move on Perez, suggesting it was not intentional. The Brit feels the move was not intentional but the result of the damp tarmac and poor visibility, where he ended up making contact with Perez.

The Mexican meanwhile has accused Hamilton of damaging his car, as the contact created a hole in his sidepod, resulting in his retirement. As a result of the incident, the seven-time world champion was penalized with a five-second penalty in the race, demoting him from fourth place to seventh place in the classification.

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Lewis Hamilton believes the Belgian GP result doesn’t matter much to him

F1 Grand Prix of Belgium - Previews

Lewis Hamilton feels not much could be done to overturn the stewards' decision.

The FIA investigation of the incident led concluded that Perez had left enough room for Hamilton but the former drove across a kerb and understeered into the latter. The stewards deemed the Mercedes champion to be at fault, even if he himself feels it was a racing incident.

Asked if there could be anything done to appeal the decision, Hamilton said:

“Not really much to say, racing incident I think, tried to go up the inside, yep, not much to say. Surprised it was an in-race decision, before speaking to you, yesterday we had to wait."

Lewis Hamilton also feels the end result doesn't matter too much as he wants to win races. Even fourth place, where he technically finished, wouldn't have made much of a difference to him.

“In a race like today I honestly don’t really care too much, you don’t get too many points, of course it would have been nice to have finished fourth but I don’t really care to finish fourth; I want to win. Fourth, seventh, doesn’t really make a difference," he said.

There have been contrasting opinions regarding the stewards’ decision, which has also resulted in the Brit being slapped with two penalty points.