Lewis Hamilton upbeat on title bid regardless of one other penalty

Ferrari’s British driver Lewis Hamilton arrives previous to the Formulation One Hungarian Grand Prix on the Hungaroring racetrack in Mogyorod close to Budapest, Hungary, on July 26, 2026. (Picture by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP)

Lewis Hamilton stated he remained optimistic about his hopes of successful a file eighth drivers world championship this yr regardless of gathering one other penalty in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

The seven-time champion Ferrari driver, who completed categorized fifth having completed fourth on the highway earlier than taking a five-second penalty, stated he needed to “work laborious to not give the stewards any extra alternatives to present me penalties”.

He was adjudged to have exceeded the pit lane velocity restrict by 0.1 kph throughout a cease that he stated, after the race, was pointless and a mistake by the workforce.

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“I positively don’t assume we should always have taken the final cease,” he stated, referring to Ferrari’s resolution to name him in throughout a late Digital Security Automotive intervention to swap from laborious tyres to softs for the ultimate laps.

“The decision got here simply earlier than the pit entry and I didn’t have time to debate it. You’ve received to belief the choice that’s been taken, however in hindsight my tyres had been completely tremendous.

“I most likely would have misplaced out to Max (Verstappen, who completed second), however I believe I might have stored third a minimum of. It simply opened the door to getting that penalty on the finish.”

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Requested if he was upbeat for the second half of the season, as he seeks to shut a 50-point deficit behind championship chief Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes, Hamilton was optimistic.

“I positively am,” he stated. “I’m massively grateful to the workforce as a result of they’ve executed a extremely nice job within the first half.

“I believe the final three races from me haven’t been nice, with numerous errors. I’ve had a whole lot of penalties… I’ve set to work laborious laborious to not give them any extra alternatives for penalties.”