Hamilton Rues Ferrari's 'Wrong Call' as Pit Strategy Backfires in Hungary

Lewis Hamilton has criticized Ferrari's decision to bring him into the pits under the virtual safety car at the Hungarian Grand Prix, calling it a mistake that "opened the door" to yet another costly penalty and ultimately denied him a podium finish.

Why it matters:

The seven-time world champion is enduring a nightmare run of form, having now received three penalties in as many races. With Ferrari struggling to maximize its race pace, strategic missteps and driver errors are compounding the pressure on a team desperate to challenge for championships in Hamilton's second season at Maranello.

The details:

• Hamilton was running in second place following Oscar Piastri's gearbox failure when Ferrari called him in for a stop just before the pit-lane entry under the virtual safety car. The late call left him no time to debate the decision.
• The stop dropped him to fourth behind Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli, with Hamilton also losing track position after conceding space at the pit exit.
• Pit-lane speeding: Hamilton was subsequently handed a five-second penalty for exceeding the pit-lane speed limit by just 0.1kph, which demoted him to fifth behind Charles Leclerc by 0.7 seconds at the flag.
• Penalty streak: The infringement marks Hamilton's third five-second penalty in consecutive races, following a false start at the British Grand Prix and a first-lap collision with George Russell in Belgium. He also sustained a three-place grid drop in Budapest for impeding Piastri during qualifying.
• Hamilton's view: "I definitely don't think we should have taken the stop," he told Sky Sports F1. "My tyres were totally fine, and I was probably going to lose out to Max, but I think I could have kept third at least."

What's next:

Hamilton acknowledged his recent struggles, admitting the last three races "have not been great" due to a string of mistakes and penalties. With his championship hopes taking a hit, the Briton knows he must eliminate further errors while Ferrari urgently needs to sharpen its race-day execution to avoid squandering more valuable points.