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Piastri incident clouds Hamilton's second place on Hungary grid
Lewis Hamilton's impressive qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix threatens to end in a penalty after he impeded Oscar Piastri on a flying lap.
By Nadia van Leeuwen - 2026-07-25T16:08:36.000Z - 2 min read
Lewis Hamilton put together an impressive qualifying performance in Hungary to secure second place on the grid, but that position now hangs in the balance. A Q3 incident in which the Briton impeded Oscar Piastri could trigger a grid penalty for Sunday's race—a bitter pill following a session where he felt he had the beating of the field.
The Mercedes driver expressed his frustration afterwards, stating he was convinced his car possessed the pace for pole position but that he failed to deliver it himself. According to Hamilton, Ferrari's decision to send him and teammate Charles Leclerc out onto the track earlier than their rivals created a messy final phase.
The incident in question occurred at Turn 1, right after Hamilton completed his hot lap and was returning to the pits. Piastri, just embarking on his own fast run, had to brake abruptly and abort the attempt. The McLaren driver described the encounter as 'pretty bad', noting he had spotted Hamilton right from the start line and expected him to move aside, following the Mercedes until they nearly touched.
Hamilton maintained he was entirely unaware of any wrongdoing. His race engineer, Carlo Santi, alerted him only when Piastri was already right behind him. The seven-time world champion believed he had exited the pits first behind Charles Leclerc and that the rest of the field had already completed their flying laps. The yellow flag for Max Verstappen's spin may have also added to the confusion.
Piastri's frustration was amplified when teammate Lando Norris went on to claim pole position shortly after, highlighting the clear potential of the McLaren while Piastri was left settling for fifth. A penalty for Hamilton could potentially move him up a spot or more on the grid.
Hamilton stressed there was no intent whatsoever and that the session had been 'clean' up to that point. Nevertheless, an investigation appears inevitable, leaving him at serious risk of losing his front-row start. Kimi Antonelli is also under scrutiny over a yellow-flag incident; he had to 'cruise' to the apex of the final corner, which he claimed cost him time.