Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton violates F1 sporting regulations

By not attending Thursday’s FIA prize-giving gala, seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton breached Formula 1’s sporting regulations.

Just days after Lewis Hamilton saw a record-breaking eighth Formula 1 world championship slip away at Yas Marina Circuit due to a controversial restart with one lap remaining in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix — and in the 2021 season — following a late safety car period, the FIA held their annual prize-giving gala in Paris, France.

There had been speculation throughout the week about whether or not a disgruntled Hamilton would show up to this gala, and that speculation only heated up after Mercedes elected not to send their championship-winning Formula 1 (constructor championship) and Formula E cars to Paris for pre-gala photographs.

Some reports indicated that Hamilton, who showed immense respect after the race to newly crowned world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull, would defy a potential Mercedes boycott and show up to the gala, just one day after being knighted by Prince Charles at Windsor Castle in England.

However, Hamilton, as well as team principal Toto Wolff, opted not to attend the gala after all.

While it’s probably the furthest thing from Hamilton’s mind — and the minds of his millions of loyal fans worldwide — at the moment, given the events of the past week, Hamilton technically breached Formula 1’s sporting regulations by refusing to attend this event.

Article 6.6 of Formula 1’s Sporting Regulations states the following:

"“The drivers finishing first, second and third in the Championship must be present at the annual FIA Prize Giving ceremony.”"

We don’t need to remind anybody that Hamilton finished in second place.

Verstappen was present to pick up his championship trophy, and Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas, who finished in third place, was also present.

Interestingly, Bottas was there representing the team despite the fact that he is due to be replaced by George Russell ahead of the 2022 season. Bottas himself is set to replace the retiring Kimi Raikkonen at Alfa Romeo alongside rookie Guanyu Zhou.

Bottas was a part of a Mercedes constructor championship-winning team in all five of his seasons with the Silver Arrows.

Representing the Brackley-based team and picking up their trophy for winning a record eighth consecutive constructor world championship was chief technical officer James Allison.

As for Hamilton breaching this regulation, there is no word as to whether or not he will be penalized. At this point, especially after Sunday, one must wonder what “by the book” means as it pertains to FIA regulations.

While it’s easy to call Hamilton out for being a “sore loser”, there are undoubtedly quite a few — in fact, many — individuals out there who would not have handled defeat in the gracious manner that he did at Yas Marina Circuit.