David Croft calls out Lewis Hamilton over “careless mistakes” and costly F1 penalties

Sky Sports Formula 1 lead commentator David Croft has called out Lewis Hamilton for making “careless mistakes” in recent races.

Following a difficult debut campaign for Ferrari in 2025, the seven-time champion has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence this year.

The 41-year-old currently sits second in the drivers’ standings on 169 points, trailing Mercedes driver and championship leader Kimi Antonelli by 50 points heading into the summer break. He also secured his maiden grand prix victory for the Maranello outfit at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix in June. 

But his momentum was stifled at the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, where he finished fifth and suffered two separate penalties throughout the weekend. Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Show, Croft pointed out a string of “careless mistakes” made by the Briton.

“His second stint wasn’t particularly good. And I wonder if that was because he was brought out behind the Racing Bulls and that affected his tyres,” Croft said as he reflected on Hamilton’s race at the Hungaroring.

“But it went from bad to worse. And then Lewis made it even worse with another careless mistake. We shouldn’t look in isolation at the Ferrari strategy. Lewis is making careless mistakes now.”

He went on to list Hamilton’s recent penalties, which included a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane in Monaco, a five-second penalty at Silverstone for moving before the start signal, a five-second penalty at Spa for causing a collision with George Russell, a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri during qualifying and a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane in Hungary.

While Ferrari took the blame for the three-place grid penalty in Hungary, explaining that it informed Hamilton of the approaching Piastri too late, Croft argued that Hamilton should have been looking in his mirrors.

“He still should have been watching in his mirrors,” Croft continued. “I’m sorry. He was the first driver to start a lap. Therefore, he should have known that other drivers would have been starting a lap as he was finishing.

“You can’t throw away good positions by making these sorts of mistakes. I don’t want to go too hard on Lewis. I think he’s the greatest of all time, but these are not mistakes that a driver of his ability and experience should be making.”

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– The Motorsport.com Team

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