06/08/2025 12:54
Lewis Hamilton's self-deprecating comments have been described as
"horrible" and "hard listening" after hearing the seven-time F1
champion hit a new low in his time with Ferrari this season.
Following qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix at the weekend,
Hamilton was brutally critical, describing himself as "useless" and
even going so far as to suggest that Ferrari should find itself a
new driver. The 40-year-old had missed out on a place in Q2 by
0.015s to Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto. Worse still, team-mate
Charles Leclerc went on to take pole position as a dramatic wind
direction change played into his hands and worked against the
dominant duo of McLaren team-mates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
To rub salt into Hamilton's wounds, around a Hungaroring circuit
where he holds the F1 record for most wins at a single circuit with
eight, he failed to make any progress, starting where he finished
in 12th. Since the introduction of the current regulatory era in
2022, it was only the fourth time in 82 races that Hamilton was
classified out of the top 10. For the three-time W Series champion
Jamie Chadwick, working as a pundit for Sky Sports F1 over the
weekend in Budapest, she described listening to Hamilton's comments
as "horrible". Assessing his situation, Chadwick added: "He's in a
different position as well. He's gone to Ferrari to try and win his
eighth world title with a third team. He's not gone there just to
try and get a few good results. "He's not a young driver that you
know is just on his way up the ladder and hoping to progress his
career. "He wants that world title, and he knows that the car is
not there to win a world title, and for whatever reason, he feels
like he's not there at the moment either, so it's like a double
whammy." Believing the summer break to be "needed" for Hamilton,
she said: "It's not that much of a break, to be honest, when you
think about how much time they [the F1 drivers] get off. "But
hopefully he can bounce back, and we won't see him quite in this
frame of mind [when F1 returns for the Dutch Grand Prix in late
August]."
