The New FIA President, Mohammed ben Sulayem, said that he refuses to rule out the possibility of punishing Lewis Hamilton for not attending the Formula 1 awards ceremony that were held on Thursday.
Rules say that the top 3 drivers in the race are required to attend the awards ceremony.
In addition to Hamilton, Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, was also not in attendance. This is seen as a protest of the results and the handling of the recently concluded Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Wolff has stated that Hamilton was feeling disillusioned and that there is no guarantee that he will participate in the F1 races again next year.
When he was asked if Hamilton will be sanctioned or penalized for not attending, he said, Rules are rules. He also added that he has spoken to Wolff and that he was told that Wolff was not attending the ceremony.
“I listened to him. When I listened, he started cooling down. We will look into the rules and make sure any situation like this that occurs in the future we will have an instant solution to it. There are so many areas we can improve, said Ben Sulayem.
The New FIA President, however, is also confident that Hamilton and his team can start fresh in 2022.
“I know Lewis is really sad about what happened. I would say he is broken. But we have to look into it if there is any breach I cannot give answers without going back to the facts.” He also added.
An inquiry has been launched to determine if the Abu Dhabi race was handled properly. Accusations have been flung at Michael Masi, race director. He appeared to not have followed some of the organizations rules.
