Lewis Hamilton felt the decision to penalise him at Sunday's Mexico City Grand Prix was "pretty nuts", and questioned the consistency of the ruling.

The seven-time world champion had started the race in third place on the grid, his highest qualifying position since switching to Ferrari ahead of this season.

However, Hamilton was handed a 10-second penalty after he "gained a lasting advantage" over Max Verstappen by rejoining ahead of the Dutchman at Turn 4, and eventually had to settle for an eighth-place finish.

Although, that ruling came after Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc stayed ahead of Hamilton after cutting the Turn 1 chicane, while Verstappen went straight on and rejoined the circuit.

"I was pretty much the same as all the other people around me," Hamilton said. "I pitched the right front, I went to go down the exit road, but it was the dustiest place on earth. I couldn't slow the car down, so I ended up cutting the grass. That's the exit road.

That Turn 1 chaos!!#F1 #MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/MBAzrcnotB

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 27, 2025

"I had a great start, and good braking into Turn 1, I was into P2. I navigated through Turn 2 and Turn 3, I didn't go off-track, others cut it, got the position and didn't get penalties. It was pretty nuts. I'm the only one to get a 10-second penalty."

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur was also left baffled by the decision to discipline Hamilton.

"This cost us P4," he said. "For sure, we didn't follow the race director note. But 10 seconds, I don't remember when someone took 10 seconds [for similar incidents].

"If you consider, if you have the global picture, Max cut the corner before, he cut the chicane, in the grass, 100 metres. I think it's not very well-managed, honestly.

"I don't say that you have to adapt the penalty to the track, but you have to understand what you are doing."