Portugal Colonial - Hamilton given formal warning as difficult Ferrari start continues

The seven-time champion was alleged to have impeded his successor at Mercedes, Italian teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli, at turn four of the fast and technical Red Bull Ring circuit in the Styrian Alps.

Hamilton apologised immediately and explained that he had not seen Antonelli approaching behind him as he descended over the crest of a hill on a slow lap and drifted into the racing line.

Hamilton raised his hand to signal his apology to Antonelli as he passed him.

After speaking to Hamilton, the stewards decided to give the Briton a formal warning -- the usual sanction for such a misdemeanour in practice.

It is the third time this season that Hamilton has been warned.

"The driver of car 44 (Hamilton), although constantly checking his mirrors after being informed by the team about car 12 (Antonelli) closing in, slowly moved on to the racing line on the approach to turn four and thereby unnecessarily impeded car 12 which had to take evasive action," said the stewards in a statement.

Hamilton was given a three-place grid drop at the Monaco Grand Prix where he impeded four-time champion Max Verstappen in qualifying when his race engineer Riccardo Adami wrongly informed him that the Dutchman was not on a flying lap.

Hamilton struggled with gearbox problems on Friday as he evaluated a new floor design on his Ferrari car.

His team-mate Charles Leclerc was fifth, six-tenths off the pace of McLaren's Lando Norris.

R.Veloso--PC