Motorsport: Lewis Hamilton faces potential sanctions after prize-giving snub

Lewis Hamilton. Photo / Photosport

Lewis Hamilton has been warned by newly-elected FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem that "rules are rules" and he may well face sanctions for choosing to snub the FIA Prize Giving gala.

As one of the top three finishers in the F1 championship just finished, the Mercedes driver was required to attend the event in Paris according to Article 6.6 of the FIA rules.

However, after the manner in which the season concluded, with the FIA's F1 race director Michael Masi making a series of hugely controversial calls which effectively denied Hamilton a record eighth title, allowing Red Bull's Max Verstappen to pass him on the final lap, Hamilton decided not to attend.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff also stayed away "out of loyalty" to Hamilton. Wolff suggested on Friday that his star driver was considering his future in the sport, so "disillusioned" had he become by the arbitrary application of the sport's rules.

But that did not stop Ben Sulayem from giving the 36-year-old Hamilton a stiff warning in what was effectively his first act as FIA president.

The Emirati former rally driver defeated Briton Graham Stoker in Saturday's election, winning nearly 62 per cent of the vote. Ben Sulayem replaces Frenchman Jean Todt who has stood down after 12 years as the most powerful figure in world motorsport.

"At the end of the day, rules are rules," Ben Sulayem said of Hamilton's no-show. "So we are going to look into the side of where the technical rules are there to be employed. Was he in breach? I have to look into it."

He added that the FIA would try not to kick Hamilton while he was down: "Of course, we'll have to be following our rules. But in the meanwhile, it doesn't stop us from making a champion feel good about the sport, you know.

"It's easy to be nice to people. And it is cheap to be nice. And it's also to motivate people. But definitely, if there is any breach, there is no forgiveness in this."