Lewis Hamilton has been branded as “the GOAT” by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff after strongly worded self-criticism amid a torrid Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix.
The seven-time World Champion endured a miserable weekend at the Hungaroring, qualifying in and finishing 12th and being lapped in the process.
After qualifying, in which he was eliminated in Q2 and saw team-mates Charles Leclerc take pole position, Hamilton said over radio that the team “need to change driver.”
And when interviewed afterwards, he branded himself as “useless,” adding cryptically after the race on Sunday that there is “a lot going on in the background that’s not great.”
But Wolff, who was the 40-year-old’s boss for 12 seasons at the German marque, explained that his emotions were high, citing similar instances when still a Mercedes driver.
“No, that is Lewis wearing his heart on his sleeve,” Wolff told media including Motorsport Week. “It’s what he thought very much when he was asked after the session was very raw.
“He was doubting himself, and we had it in the past. When he felt that he had underperformed his own expectations, and the team had its own goal, he’s been that emotional, emotionally transparent since he was a young boy, a young adult.
“So, he’s going to beat himself up. He’s the GOAT. And he will always be the GOAT, and nobody’s going to take that away.
“For sure, no single weekend or race season that hasn’t gone to plan.”
Hamilton ‘has unfinished business’ in F1
Hungary was yet another race in which Hamilton has understandably reflected on with huge negativity, given his tough first season with the Scuderia.
His Chinese Sprint success aside, Hamilton has failed to make it onto the podium in scarlet red, and now sits 39 points adrift of Leclerc in the Drivers’ Championship.
Naturally, many have wondered if Hamilton’s time in the sport is up, and that perhaps age has caught up with him.
However, Wolff dismissed such a notion, saying that there is much for Hamilton to offer, and that the forthcoming regulation changes for 2026 are a potential advantage for him.
“Lewis has unfinished business in Formula 1,” he said. “In the same way that Mercedes underperformed over this latest set of regulations since 2022, he kind of never got happy with ground effect cars, in the same way, it beats him. Maybe it’s linked to driving style.
“So, he shouldn’t go anywhere. Next year, brand new cars, completely different to drive, new power units that need an intelligent way of managing the energy.
“So, that’s absolutely on for Lewis, and I hope he stays on for many more years, and certainly next year is going to be an important one.”
Wolff also explained that, provided he has the right car that suits him and is able to give him the results, he can still compete for the ulusive record eighth World Championship.
“If he has a car that’s not giving him the feedback that he wants, and that was the Mercedes of the past few years, and that seems to be the Ferrari, and even worse, then not,” the Austrian concluded. “But you ask me whether he has it, he definitely has it.”
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