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Fred Vasseur admits Ferrari played a role in Lewis Hamilton’s Hungarian Grand Prix penalty, even if it was ultimately a driver error.
Ferrari called Hamilton into the pits under virtual safety car conditions after McLaren driver Oscar Piastri stopped on track. It meant losing track position to Max Verstappen and potentially Kimi Antonelli, but they hoped to make up the ground on soft tyres.
Hamilton reached the safety car line on pit exit a fraction behind Antonelli, which meant he had to return the place. Worse still, the FIA sensors found that he had accelerated too early, earning an automatic five-second penalty (for a 0.1kph breach).
What do you make of Lewis Hamilton’s recent string of penalties? ⚠️
Lewis Hamilton onboard footage and pit stop data shed new light on Hungary penalty
Hamilton has received several penalties this year, including a controversial five-second sanction for colliding with George Russell at the Belgian Grand Prix, but this one was ultimately objective.
Vasseur says Hamilton, aware that it would be tight with Antonelli, was trying to ‘compensate’ for a small issue during the stop, hence his gamble at the end of the pit lane.
Onboard footage, which wasn’t broadcast during the race, shows that Ferrari mechanics needed two attempts to secure Hamilton’s left-front tyre before he was released.
Hamilton’s stop time was 2.91 seconds, which ranked 31st out of 45 for the race. His first two stops took 2.6 and 2.33 seconds respectively.
“It’s difficult to put all the penalties in the same folder,” Vasseur said, via Automoto. “For me, the incident with Russell at Spa was a normal racing contact.
Should Ferrari have used team orders after Lewis Hamilton’s penalty, or would that have been unfair on Charles Leclerc?
“Today was more of a succession of inaccuracies: you lose a few tenths at the tyre change, then when you exit the pits you try to push as hard as you can to compensate and you end up making a mistake.
“When you start making a mistake, it’s really easy to make others, and this Sunday is a prime example of that.”
Hamilton was unable to regain third from Antonelli on track, and he ended up dropping to fifth – behind teammate Charles Leclerc – after the five-second penalty was applied.
On a weekend where Ferrari were tipped to have race-winning pace, it was bitterly disappointing for Hamilton not to gain any ground from his starting position. He had qualified second before receiving a three-place penalty for impeding Piastri.
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