Lewis Hamilton has been handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, dropping the Ferrari driver from second to fifth on Sunday’s starting grid.
The stewards found Hamilton had unnecessarily impeded the McLaren driver approaching Turn 1 after completing a flying lap in Q3. According to the FIA, Hamilton was travelling at a significantly reduced speed on the racing line while Piastri was beginning a push lap, forcing the Australian to take avoiding action by running wide and abandoning the lap.
Hamilton told the stewards he had only just completed a fast lap and did not receive Ferrari’s radio warning about Piastri until the McLaren was already close behind. He also explained that, because of the position of his Ferrari on the circuit, Piastri was not visible in his mirrors. Despite those explanations, the stewards concluded Hamilton had unnecessarily impeded Car 81 and applied the standard three-place grid penalty for such an offence during qualifying.
The penalty promotes Charles Leclerc to the front row alongside pole-sitter Lando Norris, while Kimi Antonelli moves up to third and Oscar Piastri inherits fourth. Hamilton will now start fifth as Ferrari’s hopes of challenging for victory become significantly more difficult.
At the time the original qualifying report was published, Hamilton’s second-place finish was under investigation following the incident. The FIA’s decision has now confirmed the seven-time world champion will forfeit his front-row start.
