Hamilton questions costly Ferrari pitstop decision

BUDAPEST, July 26 : Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton questioned Ferrari's Hungarian Grand Prix strategy on Sunday after a late pitstop cost him a likely podium finish.

The Briton, second in the championship, finished fourth on track but ended up fifth behind teammate Charles Leclerc after a five-second penalty was added to his time for speeding in the pitlane.

He had been running in second place before the pitstop, taken during a virtual safety period moments after McLaren's Oscar Piastri had pulled over and retired with a gearbox problem.

"I definitely don't think we should have taken a stop. The call came literally just before the pit lane entry and I didn't have time to debate it," Hamilton, now 50 points behind Mercedes' championship leader Kimi Antonelli, told reporters at the Hungaroring.

"You've got to trust the decision that has been taken but, in hindsight, my tyres were totally fine. I was probably going to lose out to Max (Verstappen), but I think I could have kept third at least. And it just opened up the door to the penalty that I got at the end."

Red Bull's Verstappen finished second behind McLaren's winner Lando Norris with Antonelli a close third. Both stayed out during the virtual safety car. 

'JUST CAN'T CATCH A BREAK'

Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur defended the strategy and said it would have been unfair to ask Leclerc to increase the gap to preserve Hamilton's position at the end.

Hamilton, a record eight-time winner in Hungary, had arrived hoping to secure his first pole position since 2023 at a circuit that looked likely to favour him and Ferrari.

Instead, he missed out on pole by 0.012 of a second to Norris and was then demoted three places - the latest of a string of penalties that has come his