Ferrari was fined €10,000 by FIA stewards after Lewis Hamilton blocked Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto during second practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. The incident occurred at Turn 9 when Hamilton moved onto the racing line while traveling slowly, forcing Bortoleto to brake and take evasive action.
Hamilton was completing a cooldown lap at approximately 80-85 kph when Bortoleto approached from behind at 240 kph, creating a dangerous speed differential of 155-160 kph. The stewards noted Hamilton's right-hand mirror was damaged, limiting his ability to see approaching traffic.
The stewards accepted Hamilton's mirror damage as mitigation but criticized Ferrari for failing to provide radio warnings of approaching cars. They determined the team should have given appropriate warnings regardless of whether Bortoleto was on a qualifying lap, given Hamilton's impaired visibility.
Hamilton received a formal warning for the impeding incident, while Ferrari faced the financial penalty for not supporting their driver with sufficient information. This marks another in a series of impeding incidents involving Hamilton this season, including previous penalties in Hungary for blocking Oscar Piastri.