Lewis Hamilton Says ‘Sometimes You Just Can’t Catch a Break’ After Third Penalty in Three Weekends

• Lewis Hamilton dropped from second to fifth on the Hungarian Grand Prix grid after stewards ruled he had blocked Oscar Piastri at the end of qualifying.
• It was the seven-time world champion’s third penalty in as many race weekends, following sanctions at Silverstone and in Belgium.
• Hamilton posted a lengthy Instagram message afterward admitting “sometimes you just can’t catch a break,” while insisting the setback would not derail Ferrari’s progress.

Lewis Hamilton dropped from second to fifth on the Hungarian Grand Prix grid after stewards ruled he had blocked Oscar Piastri at the end of qualifying, the seven-time world champion’s third penalty in as many race weekends heading into Formula 1’s summer break.

Hamilton had looked set to line up alongside Lando Norris on the front row, having briefly held provisional pole after the opening runs in Q3. He was the first of the leading drivers sent out for the final runs, with just over three minutes left on the clock, and did not improve on his earlier lap. As he slowed on the racing line after crossing the line, Piastri arrived behind him on a push lap and was forced to run wide and abandon his own attempt.

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Stewards summoned both drivers along with team representatives and reviewed video, telemetry, team radio and in-car footage before delivering their verdict. “At the approach to Turn 1, Car 44 was travelling at a significantly reduced speed on the racing line while Car 81 was approaching on a push lap,” the stewards said. “The driver of Car 44 explained that he had just completed a fast lap and did not receive the team’s radio message regarding the approaching Car 81 until the latter was already in close proximity. He further stated that, due to the positioning of his car on the track, Car 81 was not visible in his mirrors. Car 81, which was on a push lap, was forced to take avoiding action by running wide and being obliged to abort the lap. Having examined the available evidence, the Stewards determined that Car 44 unnecessarily impeded Car 81 during qualifying.”

The three-place drop promoted Ferrari team mate Charles Leclerc to second on the grid, with Piastri moving up to third.

Confusion Over the Radio Call

Speaking immediately after qualifying, before the penalty had been confirmed, Hamilton said he had no idea Piastri was closing on him. “I was told literally when he was at the apex behind me, so I had no idea he was coming. I thought everyone came out behind me. I was the first out, so I thought everyone had finished the lap,” he said. “I think Charles was coming up behind me when I left the pit lane, as far as I was aware. Crazy, because it had been clean, and obviously it wasn’t intentional.”

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur placed the blame with the team rather than his driver. “We told him about Piastri but it was far too late,” Vasseur told Sky Sports F1. “If there’s a mistake, it’s our mistake.”

Hamilton later questioned the decision to send him out first for the final runs at all, given he had held provisional pole after the opening laps. “I don’t know why we went first, and that was a bit of a shock to me. I definitely wouldn’t have chosen to go first, but it is what it is,” he said. He also described how his final lap unraveled from the opening corner. “I had a clean out-lap, and when I started my lap, already into Turn One I had a snap and I was already a tenth and a half down. It just cascaded from there. So, the last lap was the worst lap of all, and all the other laps were really good. We clearly had the car to be on pole today, and I just didn’t deliver. So that’s tough to swallow.”

Pole position would have marked Hamilton’s first at a grand prix in three years, dating back to the same event. Asked for his overriding emotion after missing out, he said: “For the lap, not so much. It is what it is. It happens. It’s more the aftermath. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but tomorrow’s probably going to be damage limitation.”

‘Sometimes You Just Can’t Catch a Break’

Once the penalty was confirmed later on Saturday evening, Hamilton posted a lengthy message on Instagram reflecting on a run of bad luck that has now stretched across three consecutive race weekends. He was previously handed a five-second in-race penalty for a false start at Silverstone, and then another five-second sanction for a first-lap collision with Mercedes’ George Russell at the Belgian Grand Prix the weekend before Hungary, a race that Antonelli went on to win while Russell retired.

“Sometimes you just can’t catch a break. Another weekend when I’ve been feeling great throughout all the sessions, but then it just falls apart. To go from being so close to pole to then starting P5 is extremely frustrating,” he wrote. “I always do my best to keep positive – sport is always about the highs and lows, but it’s also in the margins. Every point counts and you have to seize every opportunity. After three penalties in three weekends, it’s becoming difficult to hang on to that positivity. Still, I won’t let the setbacks take away from the progress we’ve been making as a team. With the pace we have, I’m hopeful we can get something out of the race tomorrow. The car has been feeling better and better, and we’ve been competitive all weekend. Tonight, we’ll keep working hard together to give ourselves the best possible chance tomorrow. I always enjoy this track, so keep the faith and send good vibes for the race.”

A Difficult Track for a Fightback

The Hungaroring’s tight, twisting layout offers few clear overtaking zones, meaning a recovery from fifth on the grid to a race win looks unlikely on pace alone. High tyre degradation at the circuit does open the door to varied strategies, and if Ferrari’s practice pace over a long run matches their form in Saturday’s short runs, a podium finish remains within reach.

Hamilton’s early Q3 pace, and Vasseur’s insistence that the mistake lay with the team rather than the driver, suggested Ferrari still believe they brought a car capable of fighting at the front of the field in Budapest. What Sunday would actually deliver was a question Hamilton chose to answer with the same phrase he had used minutes after climbing out of the car: damage limitation.

The revised grid left Norris on pole from Leclerc, with Piastri third and Verstappen fourth ahead of Hamilton in fifth. Russell lined up sixth and Antonelli, who arrived in Hungary 45 points clear of Hamilton at the top of the standings after his own win in Belgium, was pushed back to seventh following a separate yellow-flag penalty in the same session. For a Ferrari team that had looked capable of a front-row lockout for most of Saturday, it was a result that left both cars and their title hopes to be salvaged over a single Sunday afternoon rather than banked in qualifying.

Hamilton’s exchange with the stewards was the second investigation of the evening, with Antonelli’s yellow-flag case opened only after the Hamilton verdict had already been delivered. Both penalties were confirmed before the paddock emptied for the night, leaving three of the five drivers ahead of Hamilton on the original timesheet facing a grid position that did not match the pace they had shown across the weekend. For Hamilton, it marked the first qualifying-session penalty of his run of bad luck, coming on top of two separate in-race sanctions at the previous two rounds, even as he continues to describe the underlying pace of the car in increasingly positive terms.

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Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

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