Picture Credit: Twitter
After the Spanish Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was seen avoiding touching Red Bull driver Max Verstappen's car to dodge a possible fine that can cost over €50,000. Hamilton was going for his routine doping test immediately after the race and thus had to go to the circuit's medical centre.
Hence the video and the photograph that surfaced were taken while the seven-time champion was returning from the test, long after the podium ceremony. The visuals aren’t very clear from the angle whether Hamilton really touched the wing of Perez's car, or simply passed behind it.
There could also be a question on the timing, and whether or not the cars were still officially under parc ferme conditions, although usually they are taken away by their teams as soon as they are officially released by the FIA.
The British driver had an incredible performance at the Spanish GP as he finished fifth and then also went on to win the Driver of the Day award. Talking about the race, Hamilton said, “We've made a lot of improvements with the car.”
“The race pace is much, much better… the car is much nicer in the race. This is a great sign we're going in the right direction. Without [my start], I would have been fighting the Red Bulls. That gives me great hope that at some stage we'll be fighting for the win.”
Mercedes's team principal was elated with the team’s performance as he said, “Can we fight for a world championship? You bet we can. We have reasons to believe we can get there. If you look at the standings that are very hard to see but motor racing is a different ball game. We've seen today that Ferrari didn't score a lot of points when they should have and we will absolutely push flat out to bring us back into the game.”