Lewis Hamilton has expressed that he is “useless” and claimed Ferrari should “change driver” as he qualified outside the top 10 for Formula 1‘s Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Briton came into this weekend hoping that Ferrari’s recent upgrades would help him to end his podium drought on a circuit where he has achieved much success.
But despite having claimed an unrivalled nine pole positions around the Hungaroring, Hamilton wasn’t even in contention on this occasion as he was eliminated in Q2.
Hamilton had trailed team-mate Charles Leclerc through practice, where Ferrari had shown promising pace to be regarded as the nearest rival to a dominant McLaren.
However, Ferrari’s struggle to generate grip once the temperature cooled blunted the SF-25’s competitiveness, leading Hamilton to miss out on Q3 again in 12th place.
Hamilton, who had experienced a shock Q1 exit last weekend in Belgium, made his disappointment evident over team radio as he proclaimed, “every time, every time.”
When asked by Sky Sports F1 what his radio message meant, Hamilton answered: “Oh, it’s me every time.”
Hamilton despondent as Leclerc carries Ferrari hopes
Hamilton’s miserable outing was compounded as a change in the wind direction hampered McLaren on the last Q3 laps and Leclerc nipped in to seize a surprise pole.
“Yeah, useless. Absolutely useless,” a downbeat Hamilton uttered.
He then added: “Team’s not the problem, we can see the other car is on pole, so we probably need to change driver.”
Like Leclerc, though, Hamilton acknowledged that his team-mate’s unexpected table-topping time would deliver a much-needed boost to Ferrari amid a tough season.
“It’s amazing for the team, clearly the car is capable of being on pole. A big congrats to Charles,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
But while his expertise in the wet helped him salvage seventh at Spa-Francorchamps, Hamilton isn’t banking on potential rain boositng his prospects this time around.
“I don’t think anything can help me right now,” he concluded.
READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton delivers verdict on Ferrari retaining Fred Vasseur
Fair play to Lewis, taking responsibility. He has been 0.3 behind Charles quite consistently though, so it is a question whether there’s anyone available to who’d be closer. Age catching up with him, inevitably. Charles is top drawer on pace so it’s not obvious who.