Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) disappointed: Only fifth, yet another penalty

The Hungarian Grand Prix is actually Lewis Hamilton’s signature race. The seven-time world champion has won here eight times and secured pole position nine times. But this year, his beloved Hungaroring didn’t quite go his way.

On Saturday in qualifying, Lewis Hamilton had finished second, missing out on pole by a whisker. However, because he had got in the way of Oscar Piastri during his fast lap, he was handed a three-place grid penalty. Consequently, the Ferrari driver started the race in fifth place. And that’s where he ended up again.

With a strong start (or rather a weak start from Leclerc on old tyres), he overtook his team-mate. With an undercut attempt, Hamilton moved ahead of Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) after the first stint, but was then overtaken by him on the track.

During the tight pit stop window under the Virtual Safety Car – triggered by Oscar Piastri’s gearbox failure – Hamilton emerged from the pit lane almost simultaneously with Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli crossing the safety car line at the start-finish line. Hamilton thought he had the advantage, put his foot down – but then gave the position back, as Antonelli appeared to have the tip of his nose ahead after all. This allowed him to avoid an investigation.

Too fast in the pit lane

But then, just like on Saturday, the spectre of penalties struck! Hamilton had been driving too fast in the pit lane and was handed a five-second penalty to be added to his race result. As a result, his fourth place was downgraded to fifth. The official FIA document later revealed that Hamilton had been ‘flashed’ at 80.1 km/h in the pit lane, meaning he was just 0.1 km/h over the limit. Bitter!

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Hamilton said after the race: “I’m grateful to the team because they really did a great job in the first half. My last three races haven’t been good. Lots of mistakes. I made a mistake at Silverstone. And lots of penalties in the last few races.”