Palmer Slams 'Pretty Sloppy' Ferrari and Hamilton for Wasting Title Chances

Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer has slammed Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton for a run of "pretty sloppy" mistakes that have allowed Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli to stretch his championship lead to 50 points. Despite Antonelli suffering reliability problems and offering rare openings, a string of penalties has undermined Hamilton's strong pace and stalled Ferrari's title charge at a critical point in the season.

Why it matters:

With only 12 races remaining, Ferrari is rapidly running out of time to close the gap. Palmer pointed to Antonelli's mechanical woes at the British Grand Prix as a golden opportunity the Scuderia failed to exploit, arguing that every single point matters when chasing a deficit this late in the year.

The details:

• Silverstone slip-ups: Hamilton earned a jump-start penalty for moving his hand too quickly off the line, then unlatched the pit-lane speed limiter early, bleeding valuable track position at a race Ferrari could have won.
• Hungary impeding: A costly impeding penalty followed, which Palmer pinned on a lack of concentration from both Hamilton and his race engineer rather than any skill deficit.
• Wasted momentum: Palmer insists Hamilton is driving "brilliantly" and matching Charles Leclerc for pure pace, making the unforced errors "needless" and particularly damaging to Ferrari's rhythm and morale.

What's next:

Palmer says Ferrari must eliminate these operational errors immediately if they want to keep Antonelli under sustained pressure. If the team cannot maximize every point from here, the 50-point deficit will likely become impossible to bridge as the season enters its final stretch.