By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton berated his performance in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday as “useless” and suggested Ferrari should change drivers.
Hamilton exited the session in Q2 with his head down and his helmet on as the 40-year-old retreated to the team’s motor home.
“I’m useless,” said the British driver.
“Absolutely useless. The team has no problem. You’ve seen the car on pole so they probably need to change driver.”
But Scuderia’s team principal Fred Vasseur disagrees; it was a session where only a few tenths made a difference, and he feels the team can learn from this.
Earlier this weekend, Hamilton spoke at length about the difficulties of slotting in with the Ferrari team, and how he’s looking forward to summer break if only to have a moment to collect his thoughts.
The championship leader, Oscar Piastri, and his title rival Lando Norris had been expected to fight for pole, but the McLaren men had to settle for second and third respectively. Charles Leclerc saw off Piastri by 0.026 seconds, with Norris 0.015secs behind the Australian. George Russell finished fourth for Mercedes.
The four-time champion Max Verstappen also ranted about his Red Bull car and team after struggling to line up eighth on the grid.
“Looking at the whole weekend, I think we’re happy to be in Q3 because I’ve been more outside the top 10 than in it –- so, yeah, it’s been difficult this whole weekend,” said the Dutch driver.
“No grip, front and rear, and it was the same in qualifying so, for me, it was not really a shock. I just drove to what I already feel the whole weekend.”
The 27-year-old Dutchman added that Red Bull –- who had left a towel in his cockpit during a pitstop on Friday which led him to throw it out of the car, 24 hours after he had declared he was staying for 2026 -– did not yet understand the problems with the car.