Lewis Hamilton stripped of pole position in Spain - The McLaren car stopped just after his pole lap
Published by Christine
Welcome to F1Minute - Lewis Hamilton stripped of pole position in Spain.
Lewis Hamilton’s final lap in qualifying saw him take pole position and then come to a halt moments after crossing the finish line. There was some confusion over whether the car had a technical problem, if Hamilton had been asked to switch off the car early, or whether they had simply run out of fuel, but whatever the story, the stewards decided to investigate.
After measuring the fuel left in the car, the stewards deemed it not enough to have returned to the pitlane - as required in the regulations.
Sporting Director, Sam Michael, told the FIA that a member of the team had not put enough fuel in the car and it was a simple mistake, but the stewards decided that as it was the team’s mistake, Hamilton would no longer be on pole position. He will start from either the back of the grid, or the pitlane.
That promotes Pastor Maldonado to the front, with Williams set to lead away their first race since Nico Hülkenberg secured a surprise pole position in 2010. All this on the same day the team are celebrating Frank Williams’ 70th birthday, too.
