Hamilton hit with penalty for clash with Red Bull in F1 Belgian GP sprint race

• F1 2023 Belgian Grand Prix - Sprint Results

The Mercedes driver went wheel-to-wheel with Perez, and their dramatically collided while side-on, on Saturday at Spa. 

Perez was initially able to hold off Hamilton, although he later lost his position.

Hamilton finished the sprint race fourth but the penalty meant he was relegated to P7.

"THEY TOUCH!"

It's all happening in the Sprint! pic.twitter.com/Q7Fl4ajZEL

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 29, 2023

“That is harsh! They were side by side," Sky's Martin Brundle reacted to the penalty. 

"Lewis can’t just evaporate! He’s got to try and go through the corner! It wasn’t like he arrived late then slammed into the side of him.”

Hamilton did not enjoy an ideal Saturday at Spa, first becoming frustrating by an incident during the sprint shootout when he and teammate George Russell got in each other's way. That limited him to P7 on the starting grid for the sprint race.

But Hamilton battled into fourth, having controversially passed Perez, only for some of his hard work to be undone by the time penalty.

Perez, meanwhile, was one of two drivers who did not finish.

After Hamilton passed him, his car suffered sidepod damage and he was overtaken by both Ferrari drivers then ended up in the gravel as Lando Norris zipped by. He rejoined in 16th but didn't finish.