BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Lewis Hamilton called himself “absolutely useless” and suggested Ferrari should change drivers after he qualified 12th for the Hungarian Grand Prix and teammate Charles Leclerc took pole position.
It was a new low in a difficult first season with Ferrari for seven-time Formula 1 champion Hamilton, who qualified outside the top 10 for the second race in a row.
“I’m useless, absolutely useless,” Hamilton told British broadcaster Sky Sports.
“The team have no problem. You’ve seen the car’s on pole. So they probably need to change driver.”
Hamilton had said “every time, every time” over the radio after he was eliminated in the second part of qualifying. That signified that “it’s me every time,” he clarified to Sky later.
Qualifying problems continue
Hamilton had earlier seemed set to qualify 13th, and he was only promoted to 12th after the second part of qualifying had finished. That was because Kimi Antonelli’s time was struck out after it was noticed the Mercedes rookie had gone outside the track limits.
It was the second week running that Hamilton had been frustrated with his qualifying performance. He qualified 18th for the sprint race in Belgium last week after a spin, and 16th for the Grand Prix when one of his times was struck out.
Still, Hamilton delivered one of his best drives of the year, cutting through the field on a wet track, and eventually finished seventh.
A long first year at Ferrari
After a move from Mercedes which stunned F1 last year, Hamilton has yet to finish on the podium in a Grand Prix race with Ferrari, with a best finish of fourth.
He did win a sprint race in China in March, but a double disqualification for technical infringements on Hamilton and Leclerc’s cars in the Chinese Grand Prix the next day required a time-consuming rethink of Ferrari’s race setups.
Leclerc is fifth in the standings, only one position ahead of Hamilton, but has five podium finishes in 2005. In Sunday’s race, he’ll aim to give Ferrari its first F1 win since October.
Last week, Hamilton said it was “crunch time” and revealed he’s been holding a series of meetings with Ferrari executives to discuss improvements and ensure he has more of a say in how the team develops its car for the sweeping regulation changes coming in 2026.
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