Lewis Hamilton has found himself in hot water once again, coming under fire for blocking a Formula 1 rival during second practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, as Crash.net reports. The seven-time world champion drew the ire of Gabriel Bortoleto after holding up the Audi driver on the run to Turn 9 at Sepang. The Ferrari man was crawling along the racing line and seemingly failed to spot Bortoleto approaching from behind.
That failure to move out of the way left Bortoleto furious. The Audi driver didn't hold back, angrily taking to his team radio to broadcast his frustration: "What the f*** is this guy doing!"
So I think it's having clearer guidelines from them [the FIA], because none of us drivers want to get in trouble,
For his part, the 41-year-old Briton defended his actions by pointing to a lack of visibility from his machinery. Hamilton reported to his pit wall that he simply couldn't spot the Audi driver closing in. "I can't see through my right mirror, so keep me up to date," Hamilton told his team over the radio.
Race control has since confirmed that the stewards will investigate the alleged impeding incident once FP2 concludes. It is a troubling pattern, marking the third consecutive weekend that Hamilton has blocked a rival following similar run-ins in Madrid and Baku at the Spanish and Azerbaijan grands prix respectively.
During the previous incident in Baku, where Hamilton was reprimanded for impeding Liam Lawson during second practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the Ferrari driver pointed the finger at Formula 1's new 2026 engine regulations.
"When you come into the weekend, there's no data or simulations to say, OK, when you come to the last corner and you go to full throttle and you have 500bhp less than the car behind you on the lap, this is the gap you need to have before they get on you," he explained at the time.
"So I think it's having clearer guidelines from them [the FIA], because none of us drivers want to get in trouble," Hamilton added.
