11/08/2025 08:20
Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has criticised Lewis
Hamilton for referring to himself as "useless" in Hungary, calling
it the "attitude of giving up". Hamilton entered the summer break
with a disastrous Hungarian Grand Prix, a venue he holds the record
at for most pole positions and victories. The seven-time world
champion found himself eliminated in Q2 and started in 12th, the
position he eventually finished the race. Following qualifying,
Hamilton shocked the paddock by declaring that Ferrari needed a new
driver, describing himself as "useless". He remained downbeat
after the grand prix, with Steiner not liking the 105-time race
winner's attitude. In Steiner's eyes, Hamilton did not present
himself like a driver who has secured seven F1 drivers' titles.
Whilst the Italian acknowledged that the Briton is clearly
"struggling", he insisted that speaking about himself so negatively
to the media was not the correct approach. "I mean, how can you
come out being seven-time world champion saying 'I'm useless'? It's
not his performance, I do not care about that - I'm not going into
his performance," Steiner explained on the Red Flags podcast. "He's
struggling. At some stage in our life, we all struggle a little
bit. I mean I still struggle, I always struggle, but coming out and
saying 'oh I'm useless', I think that's the wrong attitude. For me,
I don't like the attitude of giving up. "It's an attitude that
people should feel sorry for you. But for me, it's like if I'm a
seven-time world champion, I've got enough confidence that I know
that I'm not useless. I just need to work harder and go back to get
my mojo back. "It's one of these things, but coming out saying 'I'm
useless' for me it was a little bit … I mean a few weeks ago you
were sitting down with engineers telling them what to do, and now
you're coming back and saying 'I'm useless'. "Just focus on what
you are good at, which is driving a race car, because he's good,
he's a seven-time world champion."
