Hamilton escapes sanction over outburst

FIA president Jean Todt has said that Lewis Hamilton will escape any sanctions for his post-Monaco Grand Prix outburst, after the McLaren driver wrote to apologise to the governing body for his comments

Hamilton was furious that he was punished in Monaco following collisions with Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado - and even made a joke that perhaps his skin colour was an explanation as to why he kept getting called in front of the stewards.

However, after Hamilton apologised in person to the Monaco GP stewards and then wrote to the FIA itself, Todt said on Thursday that the matter would not go any further - even though he thought the driver's comments were not correct.

"I am trying to maintain a good harmony amongst everybody," Todt was quoted as saying by The Telegraph. "I have tried to avoid controversy. I could have leaked the letter but it's between him and the FIA.

"My office was next to the stewards. Every time I went to see them I avoided making any comment. For me what Lewis said was unacceptable but I didn't want to overreact.

"I could have asked our judicial court to address the problem but we never officially opened the case. He went to the stewards to apologise. He went with his father.

"Maybe it would have been better to put him in the court; to ban him for six grands prix. But he wrote to me and I wrote to him and the thing is over."

As well as apologising to the stewards, Hamilton said sorry for his comments on his Twitter feed after the Monaco event.