Hamilton says it's on him to avoid more penalties in remaining GPs

Lewis Hamilton expects a stronger second half of the season for himself and Ferrari, but acknowledges he needs to avoid penalties after Formula 1’s mid-season break.

Ferrari has been the most consistent challenger to Mercedes so far this year, with Hamilton sitting second in the drivers’ championship, 50 points adrift of leader Kimi Antonelli. The seven-time world champion says his team has shown its strength in developing this year’s car, and he believes there will be greater returns when racing resumes in Zandvoort at the end of August.

“It has been an amazing first half given I think we've been probably like three or four tenths down on the straights in pace and power for the first half of the season,” Hamilton said. “I know the guys are pushing hard to bring upgrades for that. We’ve been bringing upgrades weekend in, weekend out. We’ve got a bit more to come in the second half, and we just keep on pushing.

“I think the second half will be stronger. Usually the second half is a stronger period for me. So I'll really take this time to re-set and try and come back stronger, fitter and better mentally prepared.”

The gap to Antonelli could have been smaller but for a run of four penalties in his last three races, and although Hamilton believes he was hard done by on occasion, he admits it’s up to him to avoid further incidents.

“Ultimately, the last two races have been pretty bad from my side," he said. "I mean, Silverstone was my fault at the start. We did talk in the drivers briefing about the fact that they're inconsistent with this stuff. There’s drivers in the past that have moved and haven’t been penalized.

“We discussed the fact, as long as you're not moving when the last lights are on, you shouldn't be penalized. Because I wasn't out of my box, and they agreed. So they're looking into that for the future.

“The last race... even the driver that I collided with said that it was just a racing incident, and that one they dished out, I think that one was not needed. But that's cost me a lot of points.

“And then the one [in qualifying in Hungary] was really just unfortunate. I take responsibility ultimately, being on track, I should have looked in my mirrors. But I thought everyone would have been on the end of the fast lap. And the information I got was right at the end, by the time when he was right behind me. So that was a communication error, unfortunately.

“But I'll work hard to try and come back, reset. There’s still a lot of positives to take. I'm going to try and make sure I don't give them any reason to give any penalties moving forwards.”