Lewis Hamilton voices opposition to decisive Ferrari call

Lewis Hamilton has questioned Ferrari's decision to bring him into the pit lane under a virtual safety car during the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Hamilton was running in third place as the race entered its final stages, but was promoted to second when Oscar Piastri retired with a gearbox problem.

Ferrari opted to bring Hamilton in for a set of soft tyres to see out the race, but the stop dropped him behind Max Verstappen.

He was then instructed to concede position to Antonelli after replays showed that the Mercedes driver was ahead at the pit exit line when Hamilton emerged back onto the circuit after making his stop.

The call took Hamilton by surprise, who told media including RacingNews365: "I'm not really sure why we stopped at the end.

“I got the call right before the pit lane entry, so I didn't have time to debate it. 

“I would never have stopped if it meant that I was giving up track position. So I thought that that would not be the case.”

Hamilton conceded that without stopping, he likely would have dropped to third place on the road behind Verstappen at the chequered flag.

However, his final result was fifth as a penalty for speeding in the pit lane during his stop saw him issued a five-second time penalty.

"I think we probably would have lost out to Max, he was on fresher tyres, maybe in that last stint,” he said.

“I may have been able to hold on to P2. He was catching me.

“But most likely it would have been P3 and it would have been much better. But instead, I lost a bunch of points.

“I was P2, I should have stayed out. I need to go see why the team pulled me in.”