Why Lewis Hamilton has to start behind Max Verstappen on the Hungarian GP grid

July 26, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

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Following the qualifying session for the 2026 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix, two top drivers were under investigation. It quickly became clear from the footage that Lewis Hamilton (second in Q3) would face a three-place grid penalty, the standard sanction for obvious obstruction of another driver.

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As for Kimi Antonelli (fourth in Q3), in the absence of clearer evidence, it was necessary to await the stewards’ decision. The stewards also decided to impose a three-place grid penalty on the championship leader, ruling that there were sufficient mitigating circumstances to exempt him from the standard five-place penalty for failing to slow down sufficiently under yellow flags.

Once these two penalties had been imposed, the FIA was then able to publish the final qualifying results and, most importantly, at around 8.00 pm, the first provisional starting grid. On this grid, the top 10 is as follows:

This order raised questions amongst a number of fans, who questioned Hamilton’s grid position; prior to Antonelli’s penalty, he appeared set to start behind Oscar Piastri and ahead of Max Verstappen. By this logic, Antonelli’s penalty, imposed later, should not have altered this, except to allow the three drivers mentioned to move up a place, which would have resulted in: 3. Piastri, 4. Hamilton and 5. Verstappen.

This reasoning is not without merit, as it is in fact a remnant of how penalties used to be imposed and how they used to determine the grid order. However, this is no how it works.

A clear procedure for establishing the grid

Hamilton did not enjoy his second place for long

Paragraph (b) of Article B2.5.4 of the Formula 1 Regulations sets out a fairly clear procedure for how a starting grid is to be determined. Here is the full text; we will then apply it in practice:

"Starting from a nominally empty grid, drivers will be allocated their grid positions in the following sequence of steps:

i. Classified drivers who have 15 or less cumulative unserved grid penalties for the Race imposed in the previous twelve (12) months will be allocated a temporary grid position equal to their Qualifying classification plus the sum of their unserved grid penalties. If two or more drivers share a temporary grid position, their relative order will be determined in accordance with their Qualifying classification, with the slowest driver keeping their allocated temporary grid position, and the other drivers getting temporary grid positions immediately ahead of them.
ii. Following the allocation of temporary grid positions to penalised drivers in accordance with (b)(i), unpenalised classified drivers will be allocated any unoccupied grid position, in the sequence of their Qualifying classification.
iii. Following the allocation of grid positions to unpenalised classified drivers, penalised drivers with a temporary grid position, as defined in b. i., will be moved up to fill any unoccupied grid position.
iv. Classified drivers who have accrued more than 15 cumulative unserved grid position penalties for the Race imposed in the previous twelve (12) months will start behind any other classified driver. Their relative position will be determined in accordance with their Qualifying classification.
v. Unclassified drivers who have been permitted to participate by the Stewards will be allocated grid positions behind all the classified drivers. Their relative positions will be determined in accordance with Article B2.4.3b."

In the case of Hungary, the last two points are not relevant: no driver received a grid penalty of more than 15 places, and no driver had to be reinstated by the stewards (as happens when a driver is unable to set a time in Q1 or when they set a time that is more than 107 per cent of the fastest time in Q1).

Now, let’s apply the first three steps to this Saturday’s session.

Step i:

On an empty grid, we first place the penalised drivers – namely Hamilton and Antonelli – simultaneously, by combining their original positions with their penalty. This gives the following table:

Position Driver 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. (2nd + 3-place penalty)Hamilton6. 7. (4th + 3-place penalty)Antonelli8. 9. 10.

Steps ii and iii:

Using this grid, we will now fill the empty slots one by one with the drivers who have not received penalties, in the order of Q3. This gives the following table, in which we can see that there are no unfilled slots, which allows us to proceed directly with step iii:

Position Driver 1.Norris2.Leclerc3.Piastri4.Verstappen5. (5. (2nd + 3-place penalty)Hamilton6.Russell7. (4th + 3-place penalty)Antonelli8.Hadjar9.Lindblad10.Hülkenberg

Once these steps have been completed, the top 10 is therefore finalised and matches the list published on Saturday evening.

What caused the confusion?

78 Impeded by Hamilton in qualifying, Piastri gained two places thanks to penalties.

The situation that has caused so many problems for a number of fans stems from the fact that, in some people’s minds, the grid is finalised entirely before penalties are applied in a specific order. This used to be the case; however, it was a situation where, potentially, certain penalties were rendered ineffective when there were several penalties affecting the drivers in question.

Under the current approach, which involves first ‘locking in’ the positions of drivers penalised by 15 places or fewer, the authorities are certain that, in most cases, drivers will actually serve the penalty imposed on them on the grid, regardless of any other changes around them.

Thus, whatever happened, once penalised, Hamilton was bound to start fifth. As Antonelli’s penalty was applied at the same time as his own – and therefore even before the other drivers had been placed on the provisional grid – the question of whether the seven-time champion should be behind or ahead of any particular driver was irrelevant. The only thing that mattered was that he had to be fifth on the grid.

Once this had been confirmed, the other drivers were simply assigned to the vacant grid positions, which meant that Verstappen (sixth in Q3) moved up two places as a result. However, it is true that if Hamilton had been the only driver penalised, he would have started behind Piastri and ahead of the Dutchman… but still in fifth place.

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