Lewis Hamilton ‘can’t catch a break’ after third penalty in three races

Lewis Hamilton admitted “sometimes you just can’t catch a break” after receiving his third penalty in as many race weekends at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Briton, who missed out on pole position by 0.012s to Lando Norris, was then handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri during Q3 at the Hungaroring. The penalty drops the Ferrari driver to fifth on the grid.

Lewis Hamilton reacts to third penalty in three weekends

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During Q3, as the top 10 drivers fought for pole position, Hamilton was deemed to be travelling at a “significantly reduced speed on the racing line” as Piastri approached on a hot lap.

Piastri was forced to take avoiding action, and, as such, aborted his lap.

Hamilton qualified in second place with Piastri fifth, but after the session the Ferrari driver had to report to the stewards, who ruled that “Car 44 unnecessarily impeded Car 81 during qualifying”.

Hamilton was given a three-place grid penalty for the infringement.

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It was the Briton’s third penalty in three race weekends after he was given a five-second penalty at Silverstone for a false start and another five seconds at Spa for causing a collision with George Russell.

“Sometimes you just can’t catch a break,” Hamilton wrote on Instagram after his latest penalty was confirmed.

“Another weekend when I’ve been feeling great throughout all the sessions, but then it just falls apart. To go from being so close to pole to then starting P5 is extremely frustrating.

“I always do my best to keep positive — sport is always about the highs and lows, but it’s also in the margins. Every point counts and you have to seize every opportunity.

“After 3 penalties in 3 weekends, it’s becoming difficult to hang on to that positivity.

“Still, I won’t let the setbacks take away from the progress we’ve been making as a team.

“With the pace we have, I’m hopeful we can get something out of the race tomorrow. The car has been feeling better and better, and we’ve been competitive all weekend.

“Tonight, we’ll keep working hard together to give ourselves the best possible chance tomorrow. I always enjoy this track, so keep the faith and send good vibes for the race.”

Speaking before his penalty was confirmed, Hamilton told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media that he had been informed of Piastri’s position too late.

“I was told literally when he was at the apex behind me, so I had no idea he was coming,” he said.

“Everyone came out behind me, I was the first out, so I thought everyone had finished their lap.

“I think Charles was the car that was behind me when I left the pit lane as far as I was aware.

“Crazy because it’d been [a] clean [session] and obviously it wasn’t intentional.”

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