Lewis Hamilton under fire as he’s accused of trying to find scapegoat | F1 | Sport

A former Formula One team boss has called out Lewis Hamilton for trying to find scapegoats for his errors rather than accepting blame himself. The Ferrari driver has endured a messy last few races, picking up various penalties which have reduced his chances of winning an elusive eighth world championship title.

The 41-year-old veteran was one of the favourites to win at the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend but was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri. He also suffered a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pits, both of which were costly as he finished fifth in another blow to his title pursuit. After 11 rounds, Hamilton is second in the drivers’ championship on 169 points, behind Kimi Antonelli, who is on 219 points. He still has a small chance of winning his long-awaited eighth world title – but only if he stops losing focus on little things and takes responsibility, rather than shifting the blame.

That’s according to former Jordan and Jaguar F1 technical director Gary Anderson, a well-respected figure in F1 circles, who has debated whether it’s a lack of concentration or tighter regulations that are catching the Ferrari star out.

Anderson wrote in The Telegraph this week: “I have to say that I am surprised that, with all his experience, Hamilton is making these mistakes. It is difficult to say why exactly he is making them. Sometimes it is just a run of bad luck and the driver wonders why they are happening. Other times there is something deeper going on.

“If we look at the two penalty incidents in Hungary, I believe Hamilton is predominantly to blame and that he should be taking more responsibility rather than pointing the finger at his team. For the impeding incident with Piastri in qualifying, this was as black and white as it gets.”

Anderson, who designed the very first Jordan Grand Prix car for the 1991 F1 season and later Jaguar’s F1 car, insisted that Hamilton himself was at fault for not getting out of Piastri’s way during qualifying. The seven-time world champion blamed his team for not telling him Piastri was coming despite having just passed him before the Australian’s fast lap.

The Brit was also caught out by an overtake from a long way back by Max Verstappen. Anderson accused Hamilton of falling asleep and not being aware enough when he should have known such a move was always on the cards with Verstappen behind him.

He added: “Hamilton is not using the amount of experience he has to show the young drivers coming through what a professional racing driver should be doing. In the past few races it has cost him a bagful of points.

“If I go back to all Hamilton’s problems, there is a reason for nearly everything and the biggest thing at the moment is that I do not get the impression that he is taking responsibility for it. He is trying to find someone else to blame. That is disappointing.”

However, Anderson did give Hamilton credit for turning his fortunes around at Ferrari after a torrid time last season, during which he appeared ready to quit the sport altogether.