In a clear example of biased commentary, the sensationalist format of Sky F1 and F1TV experts collectively ignored the role Hamilton played in causing a first-team fight. If he wasn’t a British driver, how would they have reacted to an obvious penalty? Regardless of whether you are a fan of LH44 or not.
However, the stewards saw no wrongdoing, as Alonso had predicted. During the incident in the first lap of the Miami F1 Sprint, after avoiding the out-of-control Mercedes, Alonso reported over the radio: “Hamilton arrived aggressively.”
After the 19-lap race, Alonso added: “Let’s see what they decide. He was a bit out of control. I assume they won’t decide anything because he’s not Spanish. But he ruined the race for some people, especially Lando Norris, who had a very fast car and was involved in that incident.” The “they” refers to the FIA stewards on duty who observed the incident but did not take any action.
Norris stated it was “obvious” who was at fault, pointing the finger at his fellow British driver: “Lewis dived inside and caused the incident. There was nothing I could do about it.”
The FIA stewards had a different perspective and determined: “Based on the video footage, it appeared that at least three collisions occurred – the first between cars 14 [Alonso] and 18 [Stroll], then between car 44 [Hamilton] and car 14, and finally between car 18 and car 4 [Norris]. Although it seemed that the incidents started with cars 14 and 18, the sudden and rapid arrival of car 44 contributed to the multiple collisions. However, we were not able to identify one or more drivers who were primarily or entirely at fault for the collisions or any of them. Furthermore, considering that this happened at turn one of the first lap, where drivers have more margin for incidents, we took no further action,” concluded the FIA stewards.
However, as if seeking consultation, they penalized Hamilton with a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane, which dropped him to 16th position and deprived him of a point, while Mercedes continues to struggle with their W15 package.
While most of the sensationalist coverage from Sky F1 and F1TV ignored Hamilton’s questionable actions, Martin Brundle supported Alonso’s version, joining the many who were surprised by the decision: “I think there were two cars out of control there – Stroll and Hamilton. Hamilton used the two Aston Martins on the outside like bowling pins to try to slow down.”
Brundle’s assessment captures what most people saw. However, it was not enough to silence the accusations of “bias” that the coverage available on Sky F1 and F1TV favors British drivers.
These claims support the idea that the narrative would have been very different if Lewis had been the victim and drivers like Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez, or even Alonso had been at fault.
