Lewis Hamilton has been hit with a three-place grid penalty after FIA stewards found him guilty of unnecessarily impeding Oscar Piastri during the final part of qualifying (Q3) for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver had initially qualified second, earning a front-row start alongside McLaren’s Lando Norris. However, after reviewing the incident, race stewards ruled that Hamilton blocked Piastri during the Australian’s flying lap.
Following an investigation that included video footage, telemetry data and team radio messages, the FIA concluded that Hamilton was driving unnecessarily slowly on the racing line despite being aware that Piastri was approaching at speed.
As a result of the ruling, Hamilton has been demoted three places on the starting grid and will now begin Sunday’s race from fifth position instead of second.
The penalty is a major setback for the seven-time world champion, who had shown strong pace throughout the weekend and looked set to fight for victory. With overtaking notoriously difficult at the Hungaroring, Hamilton now faces a much tougher task in his bid for a podium finish.
Meanwhile, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri benefits from the stewards’ decision, while teammate Lando Norris retains pole position heading into the Hungarian Grand Prix. Hamilton will now have to recover from P5 as he aims to salvage a strong result in Sunday’s race.
