Lewis Hamilton was demoted to fifth place on the starting grid for the Hungarian Grand Prix after impeding Oscar Piastri during qualifying.
The Aussie flashed a sarcastic thumbs up as his out lap was wrecked by the Ferrari driver, saying the incident meant he couldn’t get a proper lap in during his qualifying.
Oscar Piastri pushes past Lewis Hamilton during qualifying. Fox Sports
“It was just Lewis not looking in his mirrors, the yellow flag wasn’t my problem,” he said after the race.
“A shame because it meant I didn’t get a lap in. Clearly the car’s been quick. I’ve certainly been chasing it, it’s not been easy. Clearly there’s performance.”
During Hamilton’s last lap, he had a white flag when approaching a turn due to the slow-moving presence of Piastri ahead of him.
Hamilton went ahead of Piastri, who was on his out lap. After crossing the line, Hamilton appeared to be checking his mirrors and was then warned that Piastri was nearby.
Hamilton had to visit the stewards in the aftermath for impeding. He was subsequently moved to fifth position from second.
Hamilton finished 0.012 seconds behind Piastri’s McLaren teammate Lando Norris in Hungary with the latter crossing the line in a time of 1:17.207.
Charles Leclerc was third, Kimi Antonelli fourth and Piastri fifth.
Max Verstappen had spun out during qualifying and placed sixth. Both he and Antonelli complained of a lack of grip in their tyres while driving.
George Russell was seventh and stopped at one stage too due to a water leak.
After the race ended, Hamilton seemed aware that he was going to be punished.
“Congratulations to Lando, it was a great lap. We’ve been doing a great job all weekend, I felt solid throughout qualifying,” he said.
“For some reason, we went out first, which I don’t think was the right call, but then on top of that, the grip wasn’t there on that last lap for Charles and I. It’s obviously a track that I love, we’re obviously competitive but tomorrow’s going to be a hard day.
Lewis Hamilton. Getty
“We were quickest all throughout qualifying so [pole] definitely got away from us. I think my mind is elsewhere right this second because once I finished my lap, I don’t know if I got in the way of someone so I’m just trying to run that through my mind because I wasn’t aware anyone was coming.”
In a subsequent interview on FIA’s coverage, Hamilton said he was told Piastri was behind him at the apex and he thought everyone had finished their laps. He also thought it was Leclerc not Piastri.