Lewis Hamilton declares himself 'useless' in tough to watch interview at Hungarian GP
Charles Leclerc sparked jubilant scenes in the Ferrari garage by securing the team's first Grand Prix pole of the season. But in the other red car, Hamilton had a wretched time and was visibly emotional as he spoke to Sky Sports and made it clear he feels he is the problem.
The Brit said: "It's just me, every time. I'm useless, absolutely useless. The team has no problem – the other car is on pole. They probably need to change driver."
Hamilton had put in some decent times in practice on Friday. But still he had been complaining about a lack of balance and had told reporters that he had not felt as comfortable in the cars as his lap times had suggested, and those problems came back to haunt him in qualifying.
In contrast, it was a joyous day for Leclerc who, earlier in the weekend, had declared the Hungaroring his "worst circuit of the season". But he produced one of his very best qualifying laps to see off both the McLaren cars which had dominated all three practice sessions but could deny the Monegasque when it mattered.
---
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
‘I'm absolutely useless': Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari should replace him after qualifying 12th
Lewis Hamilton berated his performance in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday as 'useless' and emphasised it with an entirely uncharacteristic act of self-flagellation, saying Ferrari needed to replace him. Hamilton was knocked out in 12th, while his Ferrari teammate, Charles Leclerc, went on to take pole position for Sunday's race, the first the Scuderia has claimed this year. Hamilton did not have an issue with his car on his final run in Q2 in Budapest nor was he impeded, he was simply not quick enough to go through, more than two-tenths down on Leclerc and took himself to task for his shortcoming. 'It's me every time. I'm useless, absolutely useless,' he said. 'The team have no problem. You've seen the car's on pole. So we probably need to change driver.' He had signalled his own frustration immediately after completing the below-par lap, admonishing himself as he told his team: 'Every time, every time.' When he climbed from the car he walked to the Ferrari motorhome holding his gloves in front of his visor. His exasperation was doubtless compounded by what he called an 'unacceptable' error in qualifying at the last round in Belgium, where he could manage only 16th on the grid. Moreover, the Hungaroring is a circuit where the 40-year-old has a record second to none, eight wins and nine poles. However, this is the fourth time Hamilton failed to make the top 10 in qualifying this season and has been beaten over the single lap by Leclerc in 10 of the 14 meetings and is 30 points behind him in the standings. Expectations for the seven-time champion had been huge when he joined Ferrari this season after 12 years at Mercedes, but the transition has been difficult. Adapting to the new car and team is proving a challenge and although he took a win in the sprint race in China he has yet to make the podium this season, the longest period he has gone without making it into the top three. 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. Leclerc saw off Piastri by 0.026 seconds, with Norris 0.015secs behind the Australian. George Russell finished fourth for Mercedes. Leclerc said: 'I don't understand anything in Formula One. Honestly, the whole qualifying was extremely difficult. It was difficult for us to get to Q2, it was difficult for us to get to Q3. In Q3, the conditions changed a little bit. Everything became a lot trickier and I knew I just had to do a clean lap to target third. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion 'It's pole position. I definitely did not expect that. It's probably one of the best pole positions I've ever had. It's the most unexpected, for sure.'
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Lewis Hamilton sensationally tells Ferrari to REPLACE him just months after signing his huge £60m-a-year deal... and labels himself 'absolutely useless' following woeful Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying result
Lewis Hamilton said Ferrari should drop him from his £60million-a-year-contract after he qualified a horrendous 12th for the Hungarian Grand Prix while his team-mate Charles Leclerc took a shock pole position. Hamilton's display marked his worst-ever qualifying result in Budapest, and moved his head-to-head record against Leclerc in qualifying to 10-4 this season. A distraught, monosyllabic Hamilton said: 'It's me every time. I'm useless, absolutely useless. 'The team have no problem. You've seen the car's on pole. So we probably need to change driver.' Hamilton has only competed 13 races for Ferrari since his sensational move to the team, and has not finished on the podium in that period. He is 30 points behind Leclerc, whose pole came from nowhere, with the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris qualifying second and third. Hamilton's only high point at Ferrari has been victory in the sprint in China. Other than that, he has desperately struggled for form, aged 40. The seven-time world champion is yet to score a podium for Ferrari since his blockbuster move His performance on Saturday was a season-long meltdown in microcosm. The seven-time world champion remains stuck in P6 in the drivers' championship, trailing Leclerc by 30 points. It was the fourth time this season that Hamilton has missed out on Q3, having also suffered a Q1 exit at the Belgian Grand Prix last week. On that occasion, he recovered from a pit lane start to finish seventh in the race and was voted Driver of the Day. The Hungaroring has traditionally been a happy hunting ground for the Brit, where he holds a record nine pole positions and eight wins. But while he will be hoping to summon some of the same fighting spirit he showed at Spa, Hungary's circuit is among the toughest for overtaking. Unless he makes an early impact on Sunday, Hamilton could find himself locked in a midfield battle.
BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
Dunne finishes second in F2 sprint race
Ireland's Alex Dunne finished in second place in the Formula 2 sprint race in 19-year-old came home behind race winner Jose Pepe Marti after a thrilling last-lap almost took the lead with an audacious move around the outside of the penultimate corner but his Spanish rival held on to win by 0.2 McLaren development driver is now third in the standings, seven points behind leader Leonardo will start in ninth position for Sunday's feature race at the Hungaroring in Rodin Motorsport driver is challenging for the championship in his first Formula 2 was two wins, which came in feature races in Bahrain and Imola, and took the chequered flag in Belgium in the last round but lost the victory and championship lead due to a starting procedure infringement.
