Hamilton braced for ‘damage limitation’ in Hungarian GP as grid drop fear materialises

Lewis Hamilton explained after Qualifying in Hungary how he was already preparing himself for a race of “damage limitation”, ahead of the stewards handing him a grid penalty.

Hamilton qualified second to Lando Norris at the Hungaroring on Saturday, but then faced an investigation for an incident with Oscar Piastri at the end of the session.

Hamilton, the first driver to complete a second run in Q3, was ultimately found guilty of impeding Piastri at the start of the Australian’s lap, leading to a three-place drop.

It means the seven-time World Champion will start Sunday’s race in fifth position, behind Norris, Ferrari team mate Charles Leclerc, Piastri and Max Verstappen.

Speaking in his immediate post-Qualifying interview, Hamilton admitted: “We were quickest throughout Qualifying, so [pole position] definitely got away from us.

“I think my mind is just elsewhere right this second, because once I’d finished my lap, I don’t know if I got in the way of someone, so I’m just trying to run that through my mind, because I wasn’t aware anyone was coming.”

When he arrived in the TV pen, Hamilton was asked for his overriding emotion after just missing out on pole, to which he replied: “For the lap, not so much. It is what it is. It happens.

“It’s more the aftermath. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but tomorrow’s probably going to be damage limitation.”

Offering some more thoughts on the session as a whole, Hamilton said: “Congratulations to Lando, it’s a great lap. We’ve been doing a great job all weekend, I felt solid throughout Qualifying, and for some reason… we went out first, which I don’t think was the right call.

“On top of that, the grip for some reason wasn’t there on that last lap, I think for both Charles and I. It’s obviously a track that I love, we’re obviously competitive, but I think tomorrow is going to be a hard day.”