Lewis Hamilton: Why has Ferrari driver received so many penalties and what is impact on championship battle with Kimi Antonelli? | F1 News

Lewis Hamilton has received four penalties from the stewards in the last three Formula 1 race weekends – an unusually high number for any driver over such a short period.

After his latest penalty in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix for speeding in the pit lane, Hamilton stated on the radio that the stewards are “handing out penalties like crazy”.

The result was that Hamilton lost further crucial points in the title race, and he now trails Kimi Antonelli by 50 points in the Drivers’ Championship, so have the penalties been justified?

British Grand Prix – false start

Finishing Position: Third

Points lost: Likely none

Hamilton was handed a five-second time penalty for jumping the start at the British Grand Prix when he was deemed to be creeping forward before the lights went out.

He went on to finish third, perhaps fortunately after knocking down his pit mechanic at a late pit stop, so the penalty likely did not impact his result. Hamilton considered the penalty harsh.

“We talked in the drivers’ briefing the fact that they’re inconsistent with this stuff. Drivers in the past have moved and not been penalised,” he said.

“We discussed that, as long as you’re not moving when the last lights are on, you shouldn’t be penalised. I wasn’t out of my box. And they agreed. So they’re looking into that for the future.”

Belgian Grand Prix – causing a collision

Finishing Position: Fourth

Points lost: Up to six

Hamilton was given a five-second time penalty for being “wholly at fault” for colliding with George Russell on the opening lap of the British Grand Prix at Turn 5.

On the inside line, Hamilton understeered into Russell and was “unable to maintain sufficient separation” which led to the contact and Russell spinning into the gravel and out of the race.

But, Russell himself said the contact was a “racing incident” even though he came off worse.

Hamilton said: “Even the driver I collided with said that it was just a racing incident. I think that one was not needed. But that cost me a lot of points.”

Hamilton benefited from pitting and serving his penalty under a Virtual Safety Car, but without the penalty he would almost certainly have been on the podium rather than finishing fourth.

He may even have had a fighting chance of victory given his team-mate Charles Leclerc was only overtaken by race-winner Antonelli with 10 laps to go. A battle with Leclerc was definitely on the cards for second.

Hungarian Grand Prix Qualifying – impeding

Starting Position: Fifth

Impact: Potential to lead race and fight for win

Hamilton was hit with a three-grid place penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri during the final part of Qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

After completing his final Q3 run, where he did not improve, Hamilton was not told Piastri was starting his flying lap, so effectively blocked the McLaren driver through Turn 1.

“That was really just unfortunate. I take responsibility for ultimately being on track. I should have looked in my mirrors,” said Hamilton.

“But I thought everyone would have been at the end of the first lap. The information I got was right at the end. A communication error.”

Hamilton was not happy that Ferrari sent himself and Leclerc out first for the last Q3 runs, which partly led to the impeding incident with Piastri.

He had qualified second and, with brand-new soft tyres, would have had a golden chance to take the lead on the first lap and potentially win the race. Instead, he started fifth and was penalised again in the Grand Prix.

Hungarian Grand Prix – speeding in the pit lane

Finishing Position: Fourth

Points lost: Up to three

The final race before the summer break was not well executed by Ferrari and Hamilton, who endured a difficult time after being overtaken by Max Verstappen after the first round of pit stops.

But Hamilton was still potentially on course for second until a Virtual Safety Car with 13 laps to go led Ferrari to pit for new fresh tyres.

In the pit lane, Hamilton exceeded the 80kph speed limit by 0.1kph as he was eager to beat Antonelli on the merge between pit exit and track.

It was a driver mistake but Hamilton thought, with hindsight, he should not have pitted and would have been third without the stop.

“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,” he told Sky Sports F1.

“In hindsight, my tyres were totally fine. I was probably going to lose out to Max 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: I can’t give stewards any reason to penalise me

Apart from the Belgium collision with Russell, all of Hamilton’s penalties are hard, or impossible, to argue against. He has probably only lost six points from the in-race penalties but the impeding in Qualifying at the Hungaroring was the most detrimental.

Ferrari had great pace in Budapest and track position is king, so a good start on softs from the front row of the grid likely would have seen Hamilton in the lead.

His raw speed has been very strong recently, too, so victory was possible on Sunday and he would have been less than 40 points behind Antonelli.

Ferrari and Hamilton must cut out these unforced errors if they want that record-breaking eighth world drivers’ title.

“I’ll work hard to try and come back. There’s still a lot of positives to take. I’m going to try and make sure I don’t give them any reason to penalise me,” said Hamilton.

The Formula 1 season resumes after the summer break with a Sprint weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix from August 21-23, with every session live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime