Hamilton starts Austrian Grand Prix from fifth after grid penalty

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the first practice session at the Red Bull Ring racetrack in Spielberg, Austria, Friday, July 3, 2020. The Austrian Formula One Grand Prix. (Darko Bandic/AP)

SPIELBERG, Austria — Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday’s season-opening Austrian Grand Prix from fifth spot, after stewards gave him a three-place grid penalty following an incident in Saturday’s qualifying.

It means Max Verstappen starts from second place behind Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas in pole position, and that McLaren’s Lando Norris jumps up to third and Red Bull’s Alexander Albon goes from fourth.

The decision was made because Hamilton failed to slow under a yellow flag after his Mercedes teammate Bottas had spun off the track late on in qualifying.

No action was taken when stewards reviewed the incident on Saturday evening but Red Bull asked for another review and presented video footage.

“The Stewards acknowledged that the on-board footage of car 44 (Hamilton’s car) represents a significant new element that had not been available,” governing body FIA said Sunday.

“Taking into account these facts, the stewards determine that (the) decision will be reversed and the above mentioned penalty is being imposed.”

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.