Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton has openly criticised his team’s strategy call at the Hungarian Grand Prix, insisting the decision cost him a place on the podium.
Running in third position, a late virtual safety car prompted Ferrari to call Hamilton into the pits to swap his old hard tyres for fresh soft tyres.
The gamble backfired badly, as Hamilton then picked up a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane during that third stop.
The penalty completely cancelled out any advantage gained from taking a cheap stop under the virtual safety car, leaving Hamilton deeply frustrated after the race.
He ultimately finished fifth, dropping behind both championship rival Kimi Antonelli and team-mate Charles Leclerc in the final standings.
The result means Hamilton now sits 50 points behind Antonelli in the championship heading into the summer break, despite having what appeared to be a faster car in Hungary.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1’s Craig Slater after the race, Hamilton made clear he felt the stop should never have been taken.
“Yeah, I definitely don’t think we should have taken the stop,” the seven-time champion said. “But the call came literally just before the pit lane entry, and I didn’t have time to debate.”
“And you’ve got to trust that there’s a decision that’s been taken, but in hindsight, my tyres were totally fine. I was probably going to lose out to Max, but I think I could have kept third at least, and then yeah, just opens up the door to all through the penalty they got here.”
When asked about his optimism regarding Ferrari’s pace in the first half of the season, Hamilton remained broadly positive about the team’s overall progress.
“I definitely am,” he said. “I’m massively grateful to the team because they’ve really done a great job in this first half.”
Hamilton did, however, acknowledge that his own recent form has been inconsistent, pointing to a string of costly errors across the last three races.
“I think the last three races for me have not been great. Lots of mistakes, mistake in Silverstone. That cost dearly, and then obviously in the last race as well. So yeah, and then this weekend. So a lot of penalties in the last three races.”
The Hungarian result represents a significant missed opportunity for Hamilton, who had the pace to mount a genuine podium challenge before the strategy call intervened.
With the summer break now arrived, Hamilton will be hoping Ferrari can regroup and find greater consistency in the second half of the season as the championship battle intensifies.