Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari shouldn't have stopped him again under VSC in Hungary
F1 NewsMonday, 27 July 2026 at 08:59
Lewis Hamilton was left reeling after the Hungarian Grand Prix for the five-second time penalty he received for speeding in the pit lane when Ferrari pitted him under the Virtual Safety Car, a decision the seven-time Formula 1 Champion believes was wrong.
The Virtual Safety Car (VSC) came out to allow marshals to clear the broken-down McLaren of Oscar Piastri with around 16 laps remaining in the race.
Hamilton, who was on Hards, was called into the pits by Ferrari, who were worried his tyres would not last as they struggled with tyre wear all Sunday afternoon in Budapest.
However, Hamilton ended up speeding in the pit lane, which meant he received the five-second penalty, which demoted him to P5 after finishing P4.
"Yeah, I definitely don't think we should have taken the stop," the Briton said after the race. "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 the decision that has been taken.
"In hindsight, my tyres were totally fine. I was probably going to lose out to Max [Verstappen], but I think I could have kept third at least.
"Then just opened up the door to obviously the penalty that I got in the end," Hamilton lamented.
While Hamilton remains in second place in the 2026 Formula Drivers' Championship behind Kimi Antonelli, the gap has grown after the latter finished third in Hungary.
Hamilton needs to cut down the penalties
Hamilton has shown great improvement in 2026 compared to his maiden season with Ferrari but has suffered from penalties in the past few races.
In Silverstone, he was penalized for a false start. In Spa, he was controversially penalized for a Lap 1 contact with Mercedes' George Russell.
But Hamilton received two penalties over the course of the weekend in Hungary. The first after Qualifying where he was slapped with a three-place grid penalty for impeding McLaren's Oscar Piastri in Q3 while the second was his pitlane speeding penalty.
Nevertheless, the Ferrari driver insisted he remained optimistic when asked about the rest of the season and added: "I am massively grateful to the team because they have really done a great job in this first half.
"I think the last three races of me have not been great. Lots of mistakes. A mistake at Silverstone that cost dearly. Then obviously in the last race [Spa] as well. And then this weekend.
"So a lot of penalties in the last three races, so I've got to work hard to not give them any opportunity to give me any more penalties moving forward," Hamilton concluded. (Source: Sky Sports F1)
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