An avalanche of errors
From a pole that seemed secure to an anonymous fifth place finish. In just under 24 hours Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari collected a significant series of errors. At the end of Q3, Ferrari sent the drivers out on track too early, and then Hamilton was not warned that he risked impeding Oscar Piastri.
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Hamilton dropped three positions on the starting grid and at the end of the first lap was in fourth position ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari pit wall opted for a winning undercut on Verstappen, but Hamilton was outsmarted by the Dutchman who passed him in Turn 1 with a very late braking.
In the end, Hamilton was called into the pits during the Virtual Safety Car deployed for Oscar Piastri’s retirement. During that stop, Hamilton initially failed to respect the fact that Antonelli was ahead at the pit exit, and then a speeding violation was highlighted, however minimal.
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Hamilton was penalized with five seconds, which put him behind Leclerc at the end of the race. Asked what happened and why Ferrari did not ask Leclerc to slow down, team principal Frederic Vasseur replied: “Hamilton removed the pit-limiter too early. It was a hectic moment; he knew he had lost something in a less-than-perfect pit stop and he knew he was fighting Antonelli for position. Then we didn’t ask Leclerc to slow down because it didn’t seem fair to us.”
