Lewis Hamilton criticised Ferrari’s strategy after a five-second pit-lane speeding penalty and a late stop left him classified fifth at the Hungarian Grand Prix, costing him points in the title battle with Mercedes’s Kimi Antonelli. Lando Norris won for McLaren, with Max Verstappen second for Red Bull and Antonelli third.
What happened to Hamilton in the Hungarian Grand Prix?
Hamilton finished fourth on the road at the Hungaroring, but the five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane dropped him to fifth in the final classification. He had been called into the pits late in the race by Ferrari for a stop under the virtual safety car, which gave him fresh tyres but cost him track position to Verstappen and Antonelli, and he was unable to recover those places.
The stop was also the one from which Hamilton received the penalty. The decision left him questioning Ferrari’s strategy calls after a race that further damaged his championship position.
“It was pretty bad. Pretty frustrating,” he said. “I definitely don’t think we should have taken the stop but the call came literally just before the pit-lane entry and I didn’t have time to debate.
The full race classification showed Norris winning in 1:39:56.180 for 25 points, with Verstappen 15.080 seconds behind for 18 points and Antonelli 18.728 seconds back for 15 points. Charles Leclerc finished fourth for Ferrari, 23.840 seconds behind the winner, while Hamilton was 24.540 seconds back in fifth.
Isack Hadjar took sixth for Red Bull, George Russell was seventh for Mercedes, Liam Lawson eighth for Racing Bulls and Nico Hülkenberg ninth for Audi. Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10 for Racing Bulls. Gabriel Bortoleto finished 11th for Audi, Pierre Gasly 12th for Alpine, Lance Stroll 13th for Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso 14th for Aston Martin, Franco Colapinto 15th for Alpine, Esteban Ocon 16th for Haas, Alexander Albon 17th for Williams, Carlos Sainz 18th for Williams and Oliver Bearman 19th for Haas. Oscar Piastri failed to finish for McLaren, while Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas also recorded DNFs for Cadillac.
“I would never have stopped if it meant that I was giving up track position. I may have been able to hold on to P2. He [Verstappen] was catching me but most likely it would have been P3 [in front of Antonelli] and it would have been much better. Instead, I lost a bunch of points.”
How does this affect Hamilton’s title challenge?
Hamilton had been 45 points behind Antonelli before the race but now trails the Italian by 50 as Formula One heads into its summer break. He has also received a series of penalties in recent races, including one at Silverstone, one at Spa, a three-place grid drop in Hungary for impeding in qualifying and the pit-lane speeding penalty during the race.
Hamilton said the annual shutdown had come at the right time and said he would use it to reset before the second half of the season.
“I’ll work hard to try and come back, reset,” he added. “There’s still a lot of places to take. I’m going to try and make sure I don’t give them any reason to give any penalties moving forwards.
“It has been an amazing first half given I think we’ve been probably three or four-tenths down on the straights in pace and power for the first half of the season. We’ve got a bit more to come in the second half and we keep on pushing. The second half will be stronger, usually the second half is a stronger period for me. So I’ll really take this time to reset and try and come back stronger, fitter and better mentally prepared.”
He said Ferrari had been roughly three or four-tenths down on the straights in pace and power for the first half of the season, but added that there was still more to come after the break.
Why was Norris so positive after his first win of the year?
Lando Norris said he believed he was now driving at his best level, even better than when he won the title last season, after taking his and McLaren’s first victory of the year. Although Mercedes has been dominant across the opening 11 meetings, Norris said his performance in Hungary ranked among his strongest.
“Today I would probably say it was up there with one of my best performances, in terms of extracting performance out of the car and being so close to the limit every single lap,” he said. “So close that the team had to ask me to peg it back a little bit. So although it kind of hurts me saying it because it doesn’t mean that you just win, I feel like I’m doing a better job this year than I was last year, and I have done for a little while.”
Norris is 91 points behind Antonelli in the championship with 12 races remaining. He said there is still plenty to fight for in the second half of the season, particularly after McLaren’s significant upgrades for Hungary proved effective, even if the current F1 cars remain difficult to drive for him and many other drivers.
“What pleases me the most? The fact we were so quick, the fact the car was very strong today,” he said. “I was just very happy with a lot of things. I mean, the car was still horrible to drive at times but quick and I’d rather have a horrible but quick car than anything else.
“I was convinced I could win the race today and we did. We were just on another level and I felt in a very good flow of things. When the car’s good and when I’m in a good flow, there’s no stopping.”
Hamilton’s frustration, Norris’s first win of the season and Antonelli’s increased championship lead ensured the Hungarian Grand Prix had consequences at both ends of the title race before the summer break.
