FIA shares the exact reason why Lewis Hamilton was moved down at the Hungarian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton wasn’t able to add another Hungarian Grand Prix win this Sunday. He ended up finishing fifth after a late penalty, while Lando Norris took back-to-back wins at the Hungaroring, keeping his spot as the current F1 world champion.
Hamilton’s fifth place came after a five-second penalty was given to him near the end of the race as he pushed hard for a podium finish. Although he crossed the line in fourth, the penalty dropped him behind his Ferrari teammate in the final results. This setback affected his fight for the drivers’ championship.
The seven-time champion fell further behind the leader, Kimi Antonelli, who finished third in the race. Now, Hamilton is 50 points behind Antonelli halfway through the season. Catching up is possible, but Hamilton knows he’ll need a bit of luck for the rest of the year. He showed his frustration on the team radio when the penalty was announced, saying, “Every time I give them a chance, they hand me a penalty!”
Hamilton had a tricky moment shortly after the virtual safety car ended when his Ferrari team told him to give back a place to Antonelli. They had crossed the pit lane exit almost at the same time, but Hamilton was slightly ahead and had passed Antonelli under virtual safety car rules, which isn’t allowed.
Hamilton and his team thought giving the place back would avoid a penalty, but later the FIA penalized him for speeding in the pit lane. The FIA said Hamilton exceeded the 80 km/h speed limit by 0.1 km/h, resulting in the five-second penalty.
Hamilton was unhappy with the decision to bring him into the pits for new tyres during the Virtual Safety Car, thinking it caused the penalty. He felt this pit stop meant losing second place to Max Verstappen and missing out on the podium.
After the race, Hamilton said, “I don’t think we should have stopped. The call came just before the pit lane, so I had no time to argue and had to trust the decision. In the end, my tyres were fine. I might have lost to Max, but I think I could have kept third. Then, of course, I got the penalty.”