Lewis Hamilton Warned and Ferrari Fined Following Bahrain GP Practice Incident

During the second free practice session at the Sepang circuit, Lewis Hamilton blocked Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto at the entry to Turn 9. The incident occurred while Hamilton was suffering from a damaged right-hand side mirror, resulting in a closing speed differential of over 150 km/h and forcing the Brazilian driver to swerve out of the way.

Following an investigation, the FIA race stewards handed the seven-time world champion a warning and issued a €10,000 fine to Ferrari. The stewards determined that Hamilton unnecessarily impeded a significantly faster car by moving onto the racing line at slow speed, while accepting his damaged mirror and the fact that Bortoleto was not on a push lap as mitigating circumstances. Ferrari was fined for failing its responsibility to warn Hamilton over the radio.

Hamilton concluded Friday's FP3 session in fifth place, while his teammate Charles Leclerc set the fastest time ahead of Red Bull's Isack Hadjar and McLaren's Lando Norris. Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur noted that Friday's leaderboard carries little weight, adding that track evolution and tyre degradation will play a major role in determining race pace.