"To me that was a racing incident" - F1 pundit gives his verdict on the Lewis Hamilton-Sergio Perez clash at the 2023 Belgian GP

Peter Windsor recently gave his verdict on the saga between Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton during the Belgian Grand Prix Sprint earlier this year.

Hamilton was given a time penalty for making contact, and in his opinion, it was a racing incident and a penalty was not required.

"Was it worthy a penalty? No. I said so at the time to me that was a racing accident partly because the track was semi-wet you know and the cars were moving around," Windsor said on his YouTube channel.

On the sixth lap of the sprint in Belgium, Lewis Hamilton tried to make a move on Sergio Perez from the inside for P4. while trying to defend it, both cars made contact. This ripped a hole in Perez's sidepod, forcing him to retire from the race. Following this, Hamilton was handed a five-second penalty, dropping him from P4 to P7.

Many thought that the time penalty was unnecessary. Peter Windsor backed it, saying that the two drivers were excellently battling each other for the place and in the end, the incident happened.

"We want to see drivers racing and those two were doing a really good job racing very closely with one another," he added.

Windsor remarked that the wetness of the track could also be a reason for the incident because, during conditions like those, there is only the racing line that remains dry, whill the rest of the track is rather damp, as it was when it happened.

---

Peter Windsor explains why he believes Lewis Hamilton did not deserve a time penalty

There are certain rules that are to be followed by drivers while making moves on others. One such important rule is to leave space for the other driver. Usually, the one who gets the inside line, as Lewis Hamilton did, has to go slower to prevent any understeer Otherwise, they can go wide and crash into the driver on the outside.

This is likely what happened with Hamilton when he made contact with the Red Bull. However, Peter Windsor feels that it is the duty of the driver on the outside line to keep in check because the driver on the inside might face understeer and go wide, instead of going slow.

"I've said a million times if you are on the outside of another driver you are kind of taking your life into your own hands," Windsor continued.

"The guy on the inside might get a bit of understeer. Should he get penalized because he's got a bit of understeer that's pushed him out a little bit and there's a guy on his outside and it's hit him? I totally disagree with that," he added.