Lewis Hamilton admitted that Max Verstappen’s Hungarian Grand Prix overtake caught him completely by surprise after the Red Bull driver swept past both the Ferrari and Liam Lawson at Turn 1. The move reversed a position Ferrari had gained through strategy and became one of the most memorable moments of Sunday’s race.
Lewis Hamilton acknowledged over team radio that he had not spotted Max Verstappen approaching before the attack. He later apologised to race engineer Carlo Santi for surrendering the position, while Sky Sports analyst Anthony Davidson suggested that the Ferrari driver’s earlier use of battery power may have contributed to his vulnerability at the end of the pit straight.
Lewis Hamilton missed Max Verstappen’s Hungarian GP overtake
The contest between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen began immediately. Max Verstappen resisted the Ferrari driver at the start despite Lewis Hamilton running on soft tyres, setting up a prolonged battle throughout the opening stint.
Lewis Hamilton informed Ferrari that Max Verstappen was moving very slowly, but he remained unable to complete an overtake on the circuit. Ferrari therefore attempted to move its driver ahead through an undercut, and the strategy initially worked before Max Verstappen recovered the position on track.
The decisive moment came at Turn 1. Max Verstappen launched an attack down the inside and passed Lewis Hamilton and Liam Lawson in the same move. Immediately afterwards, Lewis Hamilton admitted to Ferrari that he had failed to see the Red Bull coming.
In a later radio message, Lewis Hamilton apologised directly to Carlo Santi for losing the place. The admission underlined how unexpectedly Max Verstappen had arrived alongside him at the braking zone.
Anthony Davidson identifies possible battery disadvantage
Anthony Davidson offered a possible technical explanation for why Lewis Hamilton had been unable to defend more effectively. The Sky Sports pundit suggested that the Ferrari driver had used more battery energy than intended while overtaking Liam Lawson at the end of the previous lap.
That effort may have left Lewis Hamilton with less electrical power available when Max Verstappen attacked at the end of the pit straight. The timing was particularly costly because the Ferrari had only recently moved ahead of the Red Bull through its first undercut.
Max Verstappen’s pass formed part of a complicated strategic contest in which Ferrari repeatedly attempted to use pit-stop timing to gain track position. The battle also contributed to the sequence of incidents that ultimately left Ferrari outside the Hungarian GP podium places.
Second undercut gives Lewis Hamilton another chance
Ferrari successfully undercut Max Verstappen for a second time when Lewis Hamilton made his next pit stop. Red Bull instead prioritised creating a tyre offset, keeping Max Verstappen out longer before eventually bringing the Dutch driver into the pits.
Once Max Verstappen had stopped, he began closing on his former title rival with fresher tyres. However, Oscar Piastri’s retirement then triggered a safety-car intervention and changed the strategic picture once more.
Lewis Hamilton took the opportunity to pit, while Max Verstappen stayed on the circuit. Ferrari hoped the fresh tyres would allow Lewis Hamilton to chase Max Verstappen’s car No. 3, although Kimi Antonelli also stood between the two drivers. Even if the Ferrari had cleared Kimi Antonelli, its available pace suggested that catching Max Verstappen would have remained difficult.
The late stop was part of the broader Ferrari tyre strategy that shaped the closing stages of the race. Lewis Hamilton eventually crossed the finish line in fourth position, but a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane demoted him to fifth in the official Hungarian Grand Prix classification.
Leave a Reply