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Ferrari has acknowledged that it made a costly mistake that resulted in Lewis Hamilton being slapped with a three-place grid penalty after qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
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Hamilton had one of his best qualifying performances since joining Ferrari, finishing behind Lando Norris in McLaren. The seven-time world champion was later penalized for interfering with Oscar Piastri in Q3, forcing him to fall from second place on the grid to fifth for Sunday’s race.
After the FIA announced its decision, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur made it clear the team, not Hamilton, was primarily responsible for what happened.
Fred Vasseur Accepts Ferrari Was at Fault
Vasseur, who spoke after qualifying, said Ferrari didn’t give Hamilton the information he needed in a timely fashion.
“It’s our mistake,” Vasseur said. The Ferrari boss added, “He got the information much too late. By the time we told him Oscar was coming, it was already too late to react properly.”
The Ferrari boss said Hamilton had obeyed the team’s orders during qualifying, but the late radio contact meant he had limited time to get out of the way of Piastri.
“We have to do a better job. The communication wasn’t good enough, and we take responsibility for that,” Vasseur added.
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The FIA stewards ultimately decided that Hamilton had needlessly hindered Piastri, and that was the reason for the three-place grid drop, even though they recognised Ferrari’s late warning had played a part in the incident.
Hamilton Left Frustrated at Hungarian GP
After qualifying, Hamilton had all the reasons to be optimistic as Ferrari had once again proved it had the pace to keep up with McLaren at the Hungaroring.
Hamilton was disappointed with the result but was still thinking about Sunday’s race.
| Ferrari Accepts Responsibility for Hamilton’s Penalty at Hungarian GP:
– Ferrari acknowledged their error in the incident that led to Lewis Hamilton receiving a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri during the F1 Hungarian GP qualifying. Team boss Frederic… pic.twitter.com/MqN0Ged5hh
— This is Formula 1 (@ThisIsFormu1a1) July 26, 2026
Hamilton said, “I felt really good in the car today. The pace was there. It’s obviously frustrating because we had put ourselves in a great position, but we’ll fight back tomorrow.”
Hamilton is starting in fifth place, which makes his afternoon a bit more complicated on a circuit where overtaking is a challenge. Despite this, Ferrari thinks the SF-26 is capable of challenging for another podium, if strategy is on its side.
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This story was originally published July 26, 2026 at 5:50 AM.