Lewis Hamilton admitted he is dissatisfied with the inconsistency in Formula 1 stewarding decisions after being slammed with penalties at the Hungary Grand Prix.
The seven-time World Champion headed into the race on Sunday with a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri during qualifying. While the Ferrari driver originally qualified second, the penalty forced him to start the race from fifth on the grid.
He began the race on Soft tyres and soon made his way into the top three. What looked to be a possible podium finish for the Ferrari driver turned into a P5 finish, partly as a result of a penalty. While he would have finished P4, he had a real chance at P3 earlier in the race. But failing to slow down in the pit lane on Lap 61, Hamilton was eventually hit with a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Asked if he was aggrieved about any of the penalties received in the past few weeks, Hamilton answered: “The last two races have been pretty bad from my side. Silverstone was my fault. We did talk about it in the driver’s briefing, about the fact that they’re inconsistent with the start.
“There’s been drives in the past that have moved and haven’t been penalised. We discussed with them the fact that as long as you’re not moving when the lights are on, you shouldn’t be penalised. I wasn’t at my box, and they agreed. So they’re looking into that.”
Penalties leading to loss of valuable points
This is not the first time in recent races that the Ferrari driver has been handed a penalty. At Silverstone, he received a penalty for a false start, while at the Belgian GP he was penalised for a collision with former teammate George Russell. With the two penalties in Hungary, Hamilton has been hit with four penalties over the last three race weekends.
Explaining the situation further, Hamilton said: “The last race, even the driver I collided with [Russell] said it was just a racing incident. And they gave me that one.
“It’s cost me a lot of points. And the one yesterday was really just unfortunate. I take responsibility. It’s a long track. I should have looked in my mirrors, but I thought everyone would have been at the end of the first lap.
“And the information I got was right at the end, right at the time he was behind me. So that was a communication error.
“I’ll work hard to try and come back, try to reset. There’s still lots of positives to take. But I’ve got to try and make sure I don’t give them any reason to give me a penalty.”
READ MORE: Oscar Piastri slams ‘unacceptable’ Carlos Sainz move after F1 Hungary DNF
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