The “rule” that Hamilton broke is one that drivers break practically every race, which is to only use the track. What the stewards punish drivers for is an interpretation of the rules that takes into account the concept of “advantage”. The stewards in this case decided Hamilton had gained an advantage he never would have had otherwise, despite having swallowed up Kimi’s lead in 2 laps.

If the “wait one corner” “rule” had been in place before Spa, you can bet your bottom dollar Hamilton would have obeyed it. And if he didn’t, then he would have deserved the penalty. As it was, it was an ultimately pointless sham since Kimi ended up not finishing the race. It seems that stewards can take into account “advantage” when interpreting an absurdly rigid rule (as it’s written on the page, I mean), but not “common sense”.