His Sochi hopes already battered following his power unit issue ahead of Q3 today, and the possibility of a grid penalty should components need changing, Lewis Hamilton had to face the stewards at the end of the session following his brief excursion during Q1.

Heading into T2, the Mercedes driver was momentarily caught out by a car exiting the pits. The Briton subsequently ran slightly wide but was able to continue.

However, overnight Charlie Whiting issued instructions that any driver running wide in T2 should keep to the left of the newly placed red and white polystyrene block in the run off area, Hamilton didn't, instead running to the right of the block.

Having received a report from the race director and heard from Hamilton and team manager Ron Meadows, the stewards deemed that Hamilton had indeed failed to keep to the left of the polystyrene block and handed him a reprimand.

This being the Briton's second of the season, the first being in Bahrain when he reversed in the pitlane at the end of qualifying, should he receive a third he will automatically incur a 10-place grid penalty.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Spindoctor, 01/05/2016 8:03

"Assuming the TV pictures were accurate, I don't see how Hamilton could have done what was required. Attempting to pass the "right" side of the block looked difficult & potentially more dangerous than what he actually did.

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2. Posted by scf1fan, 01/05/2016 1:15

"Although I'll agree with bfairey that the rule seems a bit trite, I'll give Whiting the BotD since I'm sure the intent was for safety and all the drivers had to observe the same rule. I would think though that a reprimand such as this should only carry for the race weekend - since it is very specific to this track. (Say perhaps, 2 race specific reprimands and a 5 spot penalty, then a clean slate at the next race. (As opposed to some flagrant start protocol violation which would carry through the season.))"

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3. Posted by bfairey, 30/04/2016 20:33

"What a mickey mouse outfit, it get worse all the time. When is Whiting retiring?"

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Hamilton reprimanded

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