SILVERSTONE -- Romain Grosjean has hit out at "big inconsistencies" from the British Grand Prix stewards after Lewis Hamilton was allowed to keep pole position despite impeding his car in Q3.
Grosjean was livid with Hamilton after the Mercedes driver slowed his first flying lap when he arrived at the penultimate corner. Hamilton had been preparing for a flying lap of his own and revealed after Q3, where he took pole by 0.5s, that he had received no warning from Mercedes that Grosjean was approaching.
The incident came under investigation but the uncertainty over pole position lasted just 30 minutes, with the stewards quickly declaring that Grosjean had been "affected" but not impeded by Hamilton's car. The Frenchman -- who lost 0.350s behind the No.44 car -- hinted after the decision was made public that Hamilton was saved by the fact he is in the title race.
When asked if he was surprised by the decision, Grosjean replied: "Yes. Surprised by the wording. Driver behind has not been impeded. If losing 0.3 to 0.4s in one corner is not being impeded I'm very surprised. I think it opens room for mess in qualifying and the rules is pretty clear.
"I know that there is a world title going on at the front but we are in a position where we actually fight as hard as the boys at the front and I was impeded today. Maybe if it was another driver the sanction would have been something and it does feel sometimes like there are two types of decisions.
"If next time I have to get my front wing in his rear diffuser to show that I have been impeded... We've got very clear rules in qualifying and with ten cars in track in Q3 we should not have those problems."
When told Hamilton had not been given a warning by the team, Grosjean said it should not matter due to the way other penalties are handed out to drivers.
"The mirrors are not great... but again when your engine or your gearbox goes, who gets the penalty, the team or yourself?"
Grosjean was equally frustrated not to be asked to see the stewards himself to argue his case.
"By one of your colleagues I learned the decision. I wasn't even there. I got a five-place grid penalty in China for being 40km/h under double yellow and today I lost position and there's nothing happening. It's frustrating, it seems there is big inconsistencies between the decision and who is doing the manoeuvre."
Pushed on whether he felt Hamilton was also helped by the fact the incident happened in front of a home crowd, he replied: ""I'm not going down that road. I'm just saying I have seen other drivers get a penalty and today I was impeded. It was clear on the data and nothing happened."