Lewis Hamilton failed to convert pole position into victory on Sunday at the Hungarian Grand Prix, as a result of a horrific opening lap for the Mercedes driver.
Hamilton shocked the paddock on Saturday to beat reigning World Champion Max Verstappen to pole position at the Hungaroring, his first since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Hamilton had been hopeful of converting his 104th pole position into his 104th victory; however, it wasn’t to be following a poor start.
His initial launch was good, but Verstappen’s was better.
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Verstappen held the inside line into the opening corner, where the Dutchman forced Hamilton wide.
This allowed the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to breeze through on the Mercedes driver’s inside, demoting him to fourth.
It was certainly not how the 38-year-old planned for the opening corner to go, with him having apologised to the team instantly.
“Sorry about that guys,” said a deflated Hamilton over the team radio.
Hamilton ultimately never had the pace to fight for the win, as he was later overtaken by Sergio Perez.
He was able to recover fourth towards the end of the race though, after overtaking Piastri by making the most of his fresher tyres.
His pace in the closing stages of the race. was actually very good; however, it was ultimately too little too late for the Mercedes driver.
Hamilton thanked his side after the race for their “hard work”, whilst he insisted that they “keep pushing”.
“Tough day today guys,” Hamilton said over the radio after the race.
“Wasn’t meant for us but thank you so much for your hard work. Let’s keep pushing. We’ve got a lot of changes and improvements we need to make to this car so let’s get them ASAP.”
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Whilst Hamilton would’ve liked to have at least claimed a rostrum, the result did at least see him close his deficit to Fernando Alonso.
Alonso still sits third in the Drivers’ Championship but is now only six points ahead of Hamilton, whilst Mercedes have extended their advantage over Aston Martin to 39 points.
The Stevenage-born driver will be hoping to return to the rostrum at the Belgian Grand Prix.