Lewis Hamilton's recent run of stewards' interventions reached a new low at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, as the seven-time world champion received his fourth penalty in just three race weekends — a five-second time penalty for pit-lane speeding that dropped him to fifth place.
The Ferrari driver had already been demoted three places on the grid after qualifying for impeding McLaren's Oscar Piastri at the end of Q3, transforming a potential front-row start into a fifth-place grid slot. But his troubles deepened during Sunday's 70-lap race at the Hungaroring.
Hamilton crossed the finish line fourth on the road behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, but a post-race time penalty for exceeding the 80km/h pit-lane speed limit by just 0.1 km/h cost him the place, promoting Leclerc to fourth.
"Every opportunity that I give those stewards, every single time they give me a penalty," Hamilton told his race engineer Carlo Santi over team radio after being informed of the sanction.
The 41-year-old Briton's punishing sequence began at Silverstone with a five-second penalty for a false start. Last week at Spa-Francorchamps he received another five-second penalty for a first-lap collision with George Russell. Combined with the three-place grid demotion in Hungary and Sunday's pit-lane infringement, Hamilton has faced the stewards four times in three consecutive race weekends.
"A lot of penalties in these three races so I've got to work hard to not give them the opportunity to give me penalties," Hamilton reflected after the race.
The result leaves Hamilton 50 points adrift of championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who salvaged third place for Mercedes to extend his advantage heading into the summer break. Hamilton admitted the run of form was taking its toll.
"These last three races for me have not been great. Lots of mistakes. Mistake at Silverstone that cost me dearly and obviously in the last race as well. And then this weekend," he said.
Despite the setbacks, Ferrari showed encouraging race pace at the Hungaroring, with Leclerc finishing fourth and Hamilton close behind before the penalty was applied. Hamilton also criticised Ferrari's race strategy, particularly the decision to pit under a late Safety Car period.
"I definitely don't think we should have taken the stop," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. "The call came literally just before the pit lane entry and I didn't have time to debate."
With the championship entering the summer break, Hamilton will have two weeks to regroup before the Belgian Grand Prix — a circuit where he has won four times — as he looks to halt what he described as a run of "lots of mistakes."
Sources
- https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1101935/1/lewis-hamilton-suffers-more-f1-penalty-pain-fourth-punishment-three-races
- https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/13566874/lewis-hamilton-kimi-antonelli-given-hungarian-gp-grid-penalties-which-shuffle-race-grid-headed-by-lando-norris
