Hamilton suggests using AI to improve stewards' decisions after Verstappen error

Hamilton made the comments in the wake of an admission by the stewards of last weekend's Singapore GP that they got it wrong when they chose to give Max Verstappen a reprimand for blocking Yuki Tsunoda in Q2.

Verstappen also received a reprimand for stopping at the pit exit while waiting to create his gap, with a queue of cars behind him.

Usually, impeding triggers an automatic three-place penalty, so rival teams and drivers were left confused when Verstappen escaped with reprimands.

Several teams spoke to the stewards in an effort to understand the decisions, and in Friday's team managers' meeting in Japan steward Matteo Perini, who also served in Singapore, admitted that the reprimand for the Tsunoda incident should have been a grid penalty.

He added that the lack of a radio message from Red Bull to Verstappen should not have been taken as mitigating circumstances.

Hamilton made it clear that he was not impressed that the mistake was made.

"Not really," he said when asked by Motorsport.com if he was pleased that there was now clarity on the matter.

"How many years have we…. That rule has been the same for ages, you know? I think we need to start looking into AI for this sort of thing, so we get good decisions."

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG, attending the FIA press conference

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Asked if would like to see permanent stewards Hamilton added: "I would like to see whether AI could do a better job or not."

Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate George Russell admitted that he'd been confused by the original decision to give a reprimand.

"It was definitely a bit strange to see even Max got away with those reprimands last week," said the GPDA director.

"We obviously always look for consistency. We appreciate it's not easy in the best of times, but last week was obviously a bit of a slam dunk. So it was strange why it didn't happen."

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz said he hoped that lessons had been learned by the FIA.

"It's just a shame that the guy that is dominating and winning pretty much every race is the only one that gets away with it, while all the others we've had penalties this year," said the Spaniard.

"And when I say everyone, everyone has pretty much had penalties. So it's a bit strange, and yeah, hopefully they learn from it."