Lewis Hamilton admitted his third pit stop under the Virtual Safety Car at the Hungarian Grand Prix was unnecessary and "opened the door" to a costly five-second penalty for pit-lane speeding. Ferrari pitted Hamilton on lap 56 after Oscar Piastri's McLaren stopped, but he lost track position to Max Verstappen, who stayed out, and ultimately dropped behind Kimi Antonelli to fourth before the penalty demoted him to fifth.

The sanction compounded a difficult weekend for the seven-time champion, who also received a three-place grid drop for impeding Piastri in qualifying. Hamilton has now collected penalties in three consecutive races: a jump-start at Silverstone, a collision with George Russell in Belgium, and the latest speeding infringement. The 50-point deficit to championship leader Antonelli widened after Sunday's fifth-place finish.

Hamilton acknowledged his recent form has been poor, stating "the last three races of me have not been great. Lots of mistakes." He vowed to eliminate errors during the summer break before the season resumes at the Dutch Grand Prix on August 21-23, while remaining optimistic about Ferrari's prospects for the second half of the season.