JOHNNY HERBERT was left red-faced after congratulating Lewis Hamilton on his ‘victory’ in the Hungarian GP – despite the Brit finishing THIRD.
The former F1 driver was conducting the post-race interviews after Esteban Ocon had taken the chequered flag at the Hungaroring.
Hamilton stormed from the back of the grid to third – only to be bumped up a place to second after Sebastian Vettel was disqualified for a fuel violation.
Herbert turned to Hamilton and said: “What a race!
“The 100th F1 win for you, the ninth race win here in Hungary, history being made by you but a frustrating day as well.”
Having been told about his error, he then corrected himself, saying: “I jumped ahead of myself with that 100th win and ninth obviously here in Hungary.”
The previous day, Herbert had urged the Max Verstappen fans in the grandstands to stop booing Hamilton after he had taken pole, only to spark even more of a reaction.
Herbert’s mistake caught spectators by surprise, and some took to Twitter to question the interviewer.
One said: “Uhhh does Johnny Herbert think Hamilton’s won? Loool.”
Another added: “Does Johnny Herbert think Hamilton won?!”
Others laughed at the error with a third saying: “Jonny Herbert does realise that Hamilton didn’t win right?”
Hamilton may not have made history with a 100th Grand Prix win but Ocon certainly did, picking up his FIRST win in Formula One.
But Hamilton did produce an excellent display to win a place on the podium.
The Brit managed to avoid a first-lap collision involving team-mate Valtteri Bottas but dropped to last place following a strategic blunder as he formed a bizarre one-car grid for the restart.
After the race Hamilton said: “Today was definitely tough, we always make it difficult for ourselves.
“It’s crazy to think we were the only ones on the grid at the start but these things happen, and we learn from them. I gave it everything, and I had nothing left at the end.
“I was telling the team how the track was through the lap (before race restart) but they said rain was coming when I got back in the car, so I thought they had other information. I then saw everyone diving in (to the pits)…
“We came in this weekend and didn’t know how it was going to go, and considering the circumstances today I’ll take it.”
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Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
