> Hamilton's driving in Fuji to be investigated. EDIT: No penalty for him!!

Lewis Hamilton is facing a stewards' investigation into his driving while under the safety car in the Japanese Grand Prix.

The officials are understood to be considering whether Hamilton could have contributed to the collision between Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel that took the duo out of second and third places during the second caution period at Fuji.

"New evidence has been brought to the stewards' attention and they are currently investigating the matter," an FIA spokesman told autosport.com.

Vettel said at the time that he had hit Webber while distracted by Hamilton slowing unexpectedly.

“I was exiting turn 13 and looking at Lewis, because all of a sudden he seemed to slow down really much and I thought he had a problem at that stage," Vettel told ITV Sport's Louise Goodman in Japan.

“And by the time I was looking back to the front I was already crashing into Mark’s rear end.”

In today's pre-event press conference at Shanghai, Webber – who had originally pinned the blame for the crash firmly on Vettel – also suggested that Hamilton had been accelerating and braking unexpectedly behind the safety car.

"It definitely contributed to Sebastian hitting me up the back that we were confused at what the other car was doing because he wasn’t doing what you are supposed to do," Webber said.

"I think he did a s*** job behind the safety car.

"He spoke in the drivers' briefing about how good a job he was going to do and then he did the job the opposite way – so we know for next time, it's no problem."

However after winning at Fuji, Hamilton said it had been necessary to brake sharply because of the braking material McLaren had been using – and suggested it was Webber whose driving had been erratic.

"We just needed to keep the heat in the brakes," he said.

"I was running quite a hard compound of brakes, so if I did light braking, I would have glazed the brakes.

"So I was making sure there was a little bit of a gap, maximising the gap that you're allowed and [using] it to my benefit.

"It was tough because Mark behind me was just too close, and all of a sudden he braked really hard and I don't know what happened – someone ran into him.

"I was constantly on the radio to my engineers to tell the Red Bull team to get Mark to make a little more of a gap because I couldn't go any faster because the pace car was in front of me.

"So I was trying to keep the distance with him and then I'd move over because I couldn't see Mark and then he'd just appear alongside me, so he kept outbraking himself.

"I felt something was going to happen, and I guess my instincts told me right."

Source: itv-f1

I hope he isnt penalised !! This is scary

No penalty for Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton will not receive any penalty for his handling of the second safety car period in last Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel's 10-place grid penalty for colliding with Mark Webber during the same caution has also been annulled.

A statement from the stewards said that punishments would be inappropriate given the extremely wet conditions at Fuji.

Both Vettel and Mark Webber had suggested that Hamilton had been accelerating and braking unpredictably while following the safety car at Fuji, causing confusion for the drivers behind.

Vettel eventually ran into the back of Webber, taking them both out of the race and leaving Webber furious and Vettel distraught.

The officials initially held Vettel entirely responsible and announced that he would drop 10 places on the Shanghai grid.

But in China Toro Rosso approached the stewards with new video evidence that it felt exonerated the young German and showed that he had been caught out by Hamilton slowing abruptly.

The FIA then confirmed yesterday morning that it was looking into the incident again, prompting 24 hours of speculation about a possible penalty for Hamilton.

The championship leader was dismayed by the latest controversy and the prospect of being penalised when on the brink of clinching the title.

"It looks like this weekend I'm probably going to given a penalty and I think it's just a shame for the sport," Hamilton said earlier today.

"If this is the way it's going to keep going then it's probably not somewhere that I want to be."

But after Webber, Hamilton and Vettel were all called to see the stewards at Shanghai this afternoon, it was announced that no punishments would be applied.

Webber: I didn't protest Lewis

Mark Webber has dissociated himself from the stewards’ investigation into Lewis Hamilton’s driving during the Japanese Grand Prix, making it clear that he did not call for disciplinary action to be taken against the McLaren driver.

In the pre-event press conference in Shanghai on Thursday, Webber was highly critical of Hamilton’s handling of the second safety car period at Fuji, claiming that the accident that eliminated him and Sebastian Vettel had been triggered in part by the Briton accelerating and braking in an erratic fashion.

“It definitely contributed to Sebastian hitting me up the back that we were confused at what the other car was doing because he wasn’t doing what you are supposed to do,” Webber said.

“I think he did a s*** job behind the safety car.

“He spoke in the drivers’ briefing about how good a job he was going to do and then he did the job the opposite way – so we know for next time, it's no problem.”

The stewards have been investigating whether Hamilton should bear some of the responsibility for the crash and it remains unclear whether the Briton, who can clinch the world championship in his rookie season on Sunday, will be punished.

After practice on Friday Webber pointed out that while he had criticised Hamilton he had not lodged a formal complaint.

“Away from today’s events, I would just like to make it clear that, although I criticised Hamilton’s driving in yesterday’s FIA press conference, at no time have I made any official complaint about anyone’s driving following Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix,” he said.

On the circuit, Webber had an encouraging start to his Chinese Grand Prix weekend, making good progress over the course of the day and ending up sixth on the timesheet, 0.8s off the ultimate pace.

“That was a good Friday running today,” he said.

“We got through our schedule okay and the car was reliable.

“We’re going to run through a few things tonight to see if we can get a bit more consistency but, apart from that, it was a good P2.

“P1 wasn’t that great for us – but P2 was much better and it’s something strong for us to work with tonight.”

Team-mate David Coulthard was eighth quickest and cautiously optimistic.

“We ran through our programme well today and balance-wise we’re looking okay,” said the Scot.

“We had a good tyre evaluation, so we’re not overly concerned by the choices we have to make for tomorrow.

“Our times were competitive, but, to be honest, irrespective of where we are on Fridays, if you look at Saturday’s qualifying times, it’s been quite similar throughout the year with McLaren, Ferrari, BMW and then Red Bull with Renault, Toyota and Williams.

“I think it will be similar tomorrow.”

Source: itv-f1