Lewis Hamilton issued an apology to his Ferrari team-mates on the radio after finishing 12th at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion experienced a miserable weekend at the Hungaroring – a track where he has a record eight race victories. Hamilton’s race was compromised from the start as he rolled off the grid in 12th place following another disappointing qualifying session on Saturday.
The Brit was the only driver to start on hard compound tyres in an attempt to mix up the strategy, but he lost two places on the opening lap, scuppering his hopes of a strong recovery drive. From there, Hamilton found himself in a DRS train behind Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar, and with overtaking spots at a premium around the Hungaroring circuit, he was unable to make up ground. The F1 legend crossed the line a lap down to the McLaren duo, who were the class of the field once again.
After crossing the line, Hamilton dialled in to speak to race engineer Riccardo Adami. “Really sorry about this weekend guys, for losing you points,” he said.
His radio apology was followed up with another downbeat interview with Sky Sports F1. Asked to clarify his comments from the previous day, when he said Ferrari might need to “change driver”, he replied: “Not particularly, when you have a feeling you have a feeling. There’s a lot going on in the background that’s not great so…”
Hamilton wasn’t the only Ferrari driver frustrated in Hungary. Team-mate Charles Leclerc started on pole position and fended off Oscar Piastri during the closing stint, but crossed the line in fourth place after managing a chassis issue throughout the closing stages of the race.
The Monegasque racer was incensed on the radio after slipping into the clutches of Mercedes’ George Russell, but calmed down after climbing out of the cockpit. “I spoke too quickly I guess, because getting out of the car, I got a few more details about what went on,” he explained.
“I thought it was about something else that we had discussed, but unfortunately, it was a problem on the chassis. There was an issue on that side, so we will look into it for it to not happen again. It doesn’t make me feel any better because when you are fighting for a win, and then you have those kinds of issues. We need to look at it for it to never happen again, as the car was just undrivable.
Ferrari are now just 24 points ahead of third-placed Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship heading into the summer break. Fresh off the back of a new multi-year contract, Fred Vasseur now has a lot of work on his hands.