Fred Vasseur uses the perfect word to describe Lewis Hamilton’s penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix

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Fred Vasseur was asked to give his thoughts on Lewis Hamilton’s five-second penalty after his Lap 1 incident with George Russell.

The Belgian Grand Prix proved to be quite a difficult affair for Ferrari, who found themselves fighting in every situation to try and earn a strong position.

Lewis Hamilton’s Lap 1 crash with George Russell became a major point of contention, as it led to the seven-time world champion accruing a five-second penalty.

And while the penalty didn’t harm him too much in the long run, many felt that Hamilton’s penalty made no sense considering the other incidents that have gone unpunished this season.

Perhaps no one agrees with this sentiment far more than Fred Vasseur, who did not hold back in his critique of the decision from the stewards to penalise Lewis Hamilton.

READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton hints he lost ‘confidence’ due to Ferrari’s changes to his car after Belgian GP crash

Fred Vasseur agrees with George Russell’s assessment of ‘garbage’ Lewis Hamilton incident

Speaking to F1 TV after the race, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur was asked to give his thoughts on the five-second penalty Lewis Hamilton had to serve after his incident with George Russell.

Vasseur immediately called the decision garbage, noting that there had been previous incidents during races this season that had gone unpunished.

“I think it’s garbage because that Lap 1 so far into the season, there was no penalty [for similar incidents].

“If you have a look at the corner, Russell had enough space on the left-hand side. It’s not like he was close to the wall. More of a racing incident for me.”

Vasseur aligned his comments with George Russell, who called the collision a racing incident, before criticising Mercedes for how they’ve handled his car.

READ MORE: Karun Chandhok sees Lewis Hamilton’s ‘important’ error from Belgian Grand Prix crash onboard footage

Lewis Hamilton escaped Belgian Grand Prix without second penalty

While the first penalty may have been contentious, Hamilton was at risk of earning another penalty after an errant release following a pit stop.

After serving his five-second penalty, the Ferrari crew rushed in to change his tyres. Unfortunately, Hamilton was given the all-clear to move forward before all the crew members were out of the way.

This resulted in Hamilton speeding past one of the crew members, who barely escaped an injury as the Briton went back onto the track.

Hamilton was not given any penalty by the FIA, as he managed to escape with his P4 finish intact and earned valuable points.