Gary Anderson tells Lewis Hamilton to stop blaming others for mistakes. Lewis Hamilton told to accept responsibility for recent F1 errors.

Former Formula 1 technical director Gary Anderson has delivered a blunt assessment of Lewis Hamilton’s recent mistakes, arguing that the Ferrari driver must stop blaming others and take greater responsibility. The criticism follows a difficult run in which Lewis Hamilton collected five penalties across the opening 11 races of the 2026 Formula 1 season.

Four of those sanctions arrived during the past three race weekends alone. Lewis Hamilton has been openly critical of the situation, referring to lost “points that could cost a championship”, but Gary Anderson believes the seven-time world champion should look more closely at his own role in the incidents.

Lewis Hamilton’s five penalties in 11 races

Lewis Hamilton had never previously accumulated so many penalties over such a short sequence of Grands Prix. His five sanctions during the 2026 season so far were imposed for the following offences:

• Monaco Grand Prix: Five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
• British Grand Prix: Five-second penalty for a false start.
• Belgian Grand Prix: Five-second penalty for contact with George Russell.
• Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying: Three-place grid penalty for impeding.
• Hungarian Grand Prix: Five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

The Hungarian Grand Prix proved particularly difficult, with the qualifying sanction followed by a pit-lane speeding penalty during the race. Those incidents contributed to another frustrating weekend as Ferrari’s errors left the team outside the podium positions at the Hungaroring.

Gary Anderson criticises Lewis Hamilton’s response

Writing in The Telegraph, Gary Anderson urged the Ferrari driver to adopt a different attitude. The former Jordan, Stewart and Jaguar designer and technical director made his position clear through the headline: “Lewis Hamilton must stop blaming others for his stupid mistakes.”

“I am surprised that, with all his experience, he makes these mistakes,” Gary Anderson wrote. “If we look at the two incidents in Hungary, I believe Hamilton was at fault: he should take more responsibility instead of pointing the finger at his team.”

Gary Anderson also criticised Lewis Hamilton’s reaction when Max Verstappen launched an overtake from a long way back during the race.

“He was also caught by surprise by Max Verstappen’s overtake from a long way back,” Gary Anderson continued. “At that moment, Hamilton was practically asleep.”

Lewis Hamilton compared with Nigel Mansell

The British engineer compared Lewis Hamilton with Nigel Mansell, suggesting that both drivers sometimes failed to “use their heads enough”. Gary Anderson ultimately argued that the Ferrari driver appeared unwilling to accept responsibility for his recent setbacks.

“I get the impression that Hamilton is not taking responsibility,” Gary Anderson concluded. “He is looking for someone to blame, and that is disappointing.”

The comments add to the scrutiny surrounding Lewis Hamilton after a weekend in which several costly mistakes left Ferrari without a Hungarian Grand Prix podium. With four sanctions arriving across three consecutive race weekends, avoiding further penalties will be crucial as Lewis Hamilton continues his championship campaign.