Lewis Hamilton believes his Hungarian Grand Prix took a bad turn after being overtaken by Max Verstappen, despite a promising start to the race.
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Lewis Hamilton thought he could play a leading role in Hungary. After a good start despite his grid penalty, the Ferrari driver quickly gained a position and showed a solid pace during his first stint on soft tires.
The Briton was even the first of the front-runners to stop, with Ferrari attempting a strategic gamble by fitting him with hard tires as early as lap 13.
This decision seemed to pay off as the Scuderia managed to regain the advantage over Max Verstappen thanks to a overcut perfectly executed.
“I had a good start and gained a position. I had a very good pace during the first part of my first stint, but unfortunately, it’s very difficult to overtake on this circuit.”
Verstappen turns everything upside down
Ferrari’s advantage, however, was short-lived.
On the very next lap, Max Verstappen launched a spectacular attack under braking at the first corner to regain his position from Hamilton.
The seven-time world champion admits he was surprised by the Red Bull driver’s maneuver.
“We managed to get back ahead of Max thanks to the strategy, which was positive. But he overtook me right after. There was a backmarker and I didn’t see him coming.”
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For Hamilton, this overtake marked the real turning point of his race.
“From that moment on, everything went wrong.”
Frustration until the checkered flag
The rest of the afternoon only intensified this frustration.
While he seemed poised to finish fourth, Hamilton ultimately received a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, which relegated him behind his teammate Charles Leclerc at the finish.
This new incident extended a complicated series for the Ferrari driver, who had already been penalized several times in recent Grands Prix.
“It was really a difficult race. Very frustrating, but that’s how it is.”
Hamilton prefers to focus on the positive
Despite this new complicated weekend, Hamilton refuses to draw a negative conclusion from the first half of the season.
The Briton believes that Ferrari has made encouraging progress and wants to build on these elements before the championship resumes.
“There are still many positives to take from this first half of the season. We have shown that the car can be very fast.”
Fifth in Budapest, Hamilton now approaches the summer break with the hope of turning the page on a series of complicated races and returning stronger in the second half of the season.