Lewis Hamilton has been dealt a three-place grid penalty for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix after stewards ruled he unnecessarily impeded Oscar Piastri during qualifying at the Hungaroring.
The seven-time world champion had narrowly missed out on a historic 105th pole position, finishing just 0.064 seconds behind McLaren's Lando Norris in a thrilling Q3 session. However, his joy at securing a front-row start quickly evaporated when the FIA summoned him over an incident involving the other McLaren of Piastri.
Piastri, on his final push lap in Q3, encountered Hamilton running slowly on the racing line approaching Turn 1. The Australian was forced to take evasive action, aborting his hot lap and leaving him stranded in fifth place on the grid.
The stewards' verdict stated: "At the approach to Turn 1, Car 44 was travelling at a significantly reduced speed on the racing line while Car 81 was approaching on a push lap. Having examined the available evidence, the Stewards determined that Car 44 unnecessarily impeded Car 81 during qualifying."
Hamilton, who will now drop from second to fifth on the grid, explained that he had just completed his own fast lap and did not receive the team's radio warning about Piastri's approach in time.
"I was told literally when he was at the apex behind me," Hamilton said in the post-qualifying press conference. "So I had no idea he was coming. I thought everyone came out behind me, I was the first out, so I thought everyone had finished their lap. Crazy, because it had been clean, and obviously it wasn't intentional."
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur took responsibility for the incident, telling Sky Sports F1: "We told him far too late and if there's a mistake it's our mistake."
The penalty promotes Hamilton's Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc to the front row alongside pole-sitter Norris. Hamilton will line up fifth on the grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix, which gets underway at 1500 local time on Sunday.
Sources
- https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1101824/1/lewis-hamilton-slapped-hungary-f1-penalty-crazy-impeding
