Following a disappointing qualifying session that saw Hamilton bow out in Q2 while teammate Charles Leclerc secured pole, the 40-year-old described himself as “absolutely useless” and suggested the team “probably need to change driver.”
Despite those brutal comments raising eyebrows across the paddock, Hamilton showed little sign of softening after Sunday’s race, where he finished 12th and failed to score points for only the second time this season.
Asked by Sky Sports if he genuinely felt Ferrari needed to replace him, a dejected Hamilton didn’t walk it back.
“When you have a feeling, you have a feeling,” he replied.
“There’s a lot going on in the background that is not great. So yeah.”
Pressed on whether he still loved racing, Hamilton simply responded:
“I still love the team.”
In a separate interview with F1TV, Hamilton didn’t hold back when asked for his thoughts on the weekend ending and the start of the summer break.
“I’m glad it’s over. I’m looking forward to going away,” he said.
His result at the Hungaroring was only the second time in his 19 visits to the track that he hadn’t finished in the points.
His race also included a tense flashback to his famous rivalry with Max Verstappen, with the pair clashing in the middle stint while battling for 11th. Verstappen forced Hamilton off the road at Turn 4 to complete the overtake.
The incident was reviewed by the stewards post-race, although Hamilton added he “couldn’t really remember it” when asked about it.
While Hamilton’s race unravelled early, pole-sitter Leclerc endured a dramatic and emotional fall from the front, finishing fourth after a late pass from George Russell and a five-second time penalty for erratic defending.
The Monegasque driver initially looked in control, pulling away well from pole ahead of Oscar Piastri and fending off a McLaren undercut. But his pace faded in the final stint, dropping behind the one-stopping Lando Norris, with Piastri passing him after the second stops before Russell made the decisive move in the closing laps.
Leclerc was livid over team radio, repeatedly slamming the car’s handling.
“This is so incredibly frustrating,” he fumed.
“We’ve lost all competitiveness. You just have to listen to me. I would have found a different way of managing those issues. Now it’s just undriveable. Undriveable. It’s a miracle if we finish on the podium.”
Leclerc backtracked on his radio rant after the race, explaining to Sky Sports F1 that the team had discovered a chassis issue post-race.
“I spoke too quickly, I guess. Because going out the car I had a bit more details about what went on,” said Leclerc.
“I thought it was about something else that we had discussed. Unfortunately, it was a problem on the chassis.”
“It doesn’t really make me feel any better because when you are fighting for a win and then you have those kind of issues… I mean, it happens.
“Today we have this problem and we need to look at it to never ever happen again because the car was just undrivable.”
Leclerc said the issue began around Lap 40 and progressively worsened, costing him a podium that had looked secure in the early stages.
“It was very frustrating to have everything under control, to know that the pace is in the car to win and then you end up being nowhere,” he said. “So we even lost the podium, so very disappointing.”
The result adds to Ferrari’s winless start to the season, with their last victory coming in Mexico last year. They now sit only 28 points ahead of Mercedes in second in the Constructors’ Championship.
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