– Lewis Hamilton expressed clear doubts about Ferrari’s strategy after the Hungarian Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion was in second place until the Virtual Safety Car phase, but was then called into the pits. In the end, this not only cost him several positions, but after a five-second penalty for a minimal speed violation in the pit lane, he even dropped from fourth to fifth place.
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For Hamilton, the decision was understandable at first, but in hindsight, he considers it wrong. At the same time, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur admits that the team made too many mistakes in Budapest.
Hamilton: “I would never have stopped”
What was particularly annoying for Hamilton was the timing of the decision. The radio message came just before the pit entry, so he practically had no time to assess the situation himself. “I definitely don’t think we should have stopped,” says the Ferrari driver.
“The radio message literally came right before the pit entry. I had no time to discuss it at all.” Therefore, he trusted that the team had made the right decision. “You have to trust that the team made the right decision. But in hindsight, my tires were perfectly fine.”
Hamilton especially regrets giving up track position. “I would never have come into the pits if I had known that we would lose position on the track because of it.”
Verstappen probably out of reach – Antonelli the key point
Looking back, the situation is more complex than it appears at first glance. Before the VSC phase, Hamilton was in second place on used hard tires. Max Verstappen followed 2.4 seconds behind, but on significantly fresher soft tires and was about half a second per lap faster just before the neutralization.
There is much to suggest that Verstappen would have overtaken Hamilton later in the race even without a pit stop. The decisive factor was rather the fight for the last podium spot.
Kimi Antonelli had received fresh tires shortly before the virtual safety car and was twelve seconds behind Hamilton. Since a pit stop under VSC conditions at the Hungaroring costs only about eleven to twelve seconds, it was already clear at that moment that it would be very tight. In fact, Antonelli eventually rejoined the track just ahead of Hamilton and then defended third place without major problems, as both drivers had similarly fresh tires.
Ferrari lost the race earlier
That Hamilton ultimately had to rely on extremely old hard tires had its cause much earlier in the race. Due to the chosen strategy, Ferrari was first put in the position at the end of the race to weigh track position against a favorable VSC stop.
In hindsight, the pit stop seems like the moment when Hamilton lost the podium. However, this cannot be guaranteed. Without the tire change, Verstappen would very likely have passed, and Antonelli would also have had good chances for third place in the final laps thanks to his enormous tire advantage. On lap 55, with new hard tires before the VSC, the Italian gained two seconds on the Ferrari.
That Hamilton was temporarily even one to one and a half seconds per lap faster than Verstappen on the new tires after the VSC makes the story even more complicated. However, due to numerous lapped cars – including behind Gabriel Bortoleto – the Ferrari driver lost crucial time before Verstappen was able to increase the pace again on his older tires.
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Hamilton: “We lost many points”
Regardless of the theoretical scenarios, Hamilton sticks to his assessment. “We probably would have lost the position to Max,” he admits. “He had significantly fresher tires.” Nevertheless, he believes that at least a podium place would have been possible.
“Maybe I could have held second place. Third place would have been more likely. That would have been much better for us.” Instead, Ferrari left valuable points on the table. “So we simply lost many points.”
His sporting conclusion is correspondingly sobering. “It was pretty bad and pretty frustrating.” At least Hamilton highlights the performance of the SF-26. “I had a good start and really strong pace in the first half of the race.” That overtaking at the Hungaroring is almost impossible made life difficult for him afterwards.
Next penalty worsens the result
As if the failed strategy gamble was not enough, Hamilton also received a five-second penalty after his pit stop. The reason was extremely narrow: Ferrari later confirmed that Hamilton deactivated the pit lane limiter slightly too early and thereby exceeded the allowed maximum speed by only 0.1 km/h.
The penalty was consequential. After crossing the finish line, Hamilton thus fell behind teammate Charles Leclerc to fifth place. Team principal Frederic Vasseur subsequently spoke of a chain of several errors. “This is not a good result at all. We cannot be satisfied with it.”
From his point of view, this already started at the race start and continued throughout the afternoon. “We simply made too many mistakes today.” Not everything went smoothly during the crucial pit stop either. “We lost time there, and the limiter was probably deactivated a bit too early when leaving the pit lane.”
Hamilton wants to make the second half of the season cleaner
Despite the disappointing recent races, Hamilton looks optimistically at the remaining Grands Prix. Ferrari made great progress in the first half of the season, even though he himself was repeatedly set back by mistakes and penalties recently.
“I am incredibly grateful to the team. They did a great job in the first half of the season.” He is less satisfied with his own record over the past weeks. “The last three races were not good for me.”
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After the penalty for the false start in Silverstone, the collision with George Russell in Spa, the grid penalty in Hungary qualifying, and now the time penalty in the race, Hamilton wants to change one thing above all. “I just have to work harder so that I don’t even give the stewards the chance to put me back in the penalty zone.”
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