Lewis Hamilton just can’t seem to catch a break this season, and Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix served up another gut-punch that left fans and pundits alike scratching their heads.
The 41-year-old seven-time world champion entered the race already fuming after a grid penalty pushed him down to fifth place before the lights even went out. But the real 𝒹𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒶 came in the final laps when stewards hit him with yet another penalty—this time for speeding in the pit lane by a tiny 0. 1 km/h.
That five-second penalty dropped him from an apparent fourth-place finish to fifth, marking his fourth penalty in just three race weekends.
Lando Norris, meanwhile, finally ended his win drought. The McLaren driver crossed the line first, taking his first victory of the 2026 season in style. Max Verstappen finished second for Red Bull, while Mercedes youngster Kimi Antonelli did some serious damage control after starting seventh due to his own grid penalty, clawing back to third place and keeping his championship lead alive.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took fourth and snagged the fastest lap, while the final classification also saw Haas driver Ollie Bearman slapped with a time penalty for ignoring blue flags, dropping him to 19th. The race had three DNFs: Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Sergio Perez (Cadillac), and Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) all failed to see the checkered flag.
As the F1 paddock heads into its mandatory summer shutdown, the championship battle remains wide open. The next race—the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort—isn’t until August 23, but it kicks off with a sprint weekend format starting August 21.
Could this break give Hamilton the reset he desperately needs, or is the slide just beginning?
