Lewis Hamilton was the first man on target, being blamed by his former teammate and now Ferrari's leading man Fernando Alonso for ditching the rules and passing the safety car on the track. That move eventually got the Brit a valuable 2nd place, while Alonso dropped from 3rd to 10th in a matter of seconds.
“Hamilton overtook the safety car, something that I had never seen, overtaking the medical car with yellow flags. We were a meter off each other, and he finished second and I finished ninth. (...) When you do the normal thing, which is respecting the rules, you finish ninth, and the one who doesn't respect them finishes second,” said an angry Alonso after the race.
Ferrari also issued a statement of its own in which it heavily criticizes the race stewards.
“The way the race and the incidents during it were managed raise doubts that could see formula one lose some credibility again, as it was seen around the world,” said a Ferrari report on the team's official website.
When asked about the incident, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton insisted that he doesn't remember correctly when exactly he passed the SC, but that the drive-through penalty he received after that was punishment enough for him in the race.
“I took my penalty - it's quite a long time to spend at 60kmh in the pit lane - and I came out second. I don't see how that's unfair – it's racing, and those are the rules, and we all have to accept them,” said Ham in an official statement after the race. The Brit eventually scored a strong 2nd place which keeps him on top of the overall classification.
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