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Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
It's as if Lewis Hamilton knows time has sped past him... his sad deterioration began long before he became Ferrari's £60m-a-year vanity project, writes JONATHAN McEVOY
It was one of the saddest sights I have seen at a track, mortal tragedy aside. Here was one of the gods of motor racing holding his gloves over his visor to hide his tangled emotions from scrutiny. A few minutes later, he stood before the television cameras inviting Ferrari to sack him from his £60million-a-year job, after qualifying in 12th place for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix. At 40, it was if he knew time had sped past him on the outside. Not quite monosyllabic but brief in his answers, he told Sky: '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.' Seeing Lewis Hamilton hide his emotions on Saturday was one of the saddest sights I've seen The seven-time world champion told Ferrari to replace him after qualifying 12th in Hungary He has been consistently outqualified and outpaced by his team-mate Charles Leclerc And he walked off to do his print session, which lasted all of 59 seconds. While he was hiding his visor, Charles Leclerc was putting the identical machinery on pole position, one so unexpected that the Monegasque said he no longer understood sport. How Hamilton can compute what is happening to him is impossible to know. He has been outgunned by Leclerc in qualifying 10 times to four. Now, Leclerc is as fast as a bullet over a single lap as there is. But since when was Hamilton, aka the GOAT, excused by any comparison? Leclerc has scored 30 points more than the Englishman in 13 races, not the most damning statistic actually. But week after week, circuit after circuit, it is Leclerc with the greater speed. You look up and, lo and behold, there is three-tenths between them. And here of all places! Where Hamilton has won a record eight times and taken pole nine times. It has been a shrine of revival in dark seasons. Where he won after a previously podium-free 2009 campaign. That day he climbed out of his troublesome McLaren and asked how far he was off the championship lead. Hamilton was thinking of launching an absurdly impossible title challenge. It's how his mind works. He is hard-wired for winning. Second place kills him as badly as last. But is the flesh still willing? A slight, almost imperceptible, deterioration has set in over the last four years. Little bits fell off the old invincibility. Did his nerve wane, or were his eyes the culprits, when he was no longer threading his silver Mercedes through vanishing holes with the elan of old? His move to Ferrari was a vanity project, rustled up by president John Elkann, a scion of the Agnelli clan, with no appreciable liking of motor racing. But Hamilton's allure lay in his fame, the most recognised driver in the world in the red car of legend. What could be better? Except they failed to notice Hamilton was beaten across two of the three seasons he spent as team-mate of George Russell. He was carted into the confectionery store and back out again in qualifying last year, 19-5 to be luridly exact. Yes, Russell is a very fine driver, but whither the GOAT? He has had so much joy at the Hungaroring down the years with as many as eight race wins The season is not an absolute disaster - he sits sixth in the standings - but he wanted a title Bringing him to Ferrari was a vanity project rustled up by Ferrari president John Elkann That was the question, too, when Hamilton drove so abjectly in rain-soaked Sao Paulo last year that I could scarcely believe what I was seeing. Could this possibly be the same Hamilton who once had webbed feet? At Silverstone in 2008 he won by more than a minute in a pool of danger, building his own monument to sporting greatness. Hamilton needed a new beginning to kickstart him, or so he tried to convince himself, refusing to give in to the truth that his powers were dimming. He shocked Mercedes by terminating his contract, forgoing the status as a Mercedes man for life and the trappings that would come with such loyalty, to fulfil a boyhood dream at the Scuderia. Toto Wolff was dumbfounded at Mercedes. But Elkann and co sounded the trumpets in Maranello. I was there when the bridge over Ferrari's Fiorano test track was crammed a dozen deep and passing lorries hooted their horns in his first outing in a Ferrari. He, his father, mother and stepmother then went out for dinner with Enzo Ferrari's son, Piero, in the back room of the Montana restaurant that Michael Schumacher called his favourite, supping in the genius loci, the magic of the place. But it was typical Ferrari. What about the car? Or the fact Hamilton was three years older than Schumacher when he was pensioned off to make way for Kimi Raikkonen? And so the season started, with Hamilton overwearing the excuse, proffered early, that nothing special should be expected soon. He factored in adjustment to his new environment, to a non-Mercedes engine for the first time and to an unfamiliar car. Fine up to a point, but not knowing where the wet switch was on his steering wheel when he made his debut in Melbourne seemed a touch negligent. He conspicuously failed to hit it off with race engineer Riccardo Adami. They were constantly squabbling over the team radio. Warning signs flashed. In recent weeks, Hamilton has been jotting ideas down for improvements for the car and to the team's operation. But last night he was beyond hope. Asked if rain would be welcome today, he said: 'I don't think anything can help me right now.' Toto Wolff was dumfounded when Hamilton announced that he wantd to leave Mercedes A deterioration has set in over the last four years - his form is not just related to Ferrari It has been a Lewis trait all his career to pick himself up from sloughs of despair. 'Still I Rise,' he is apt to say, citing Maya Angelou. 'It's not how you go down, but how you get up,' is another favourite. Can he still do that? Conversely, might he even quit over the summer break? Will he get to finish his 'masterpiece' on his own terms? Stubborn, resilient, essentially talented, he might. But I fear not. His despondency here, woeful form all season, and his advancing years suggest that we may have witnessed a staging post in Hamilton's journey to the destination he cannot contemplate. Retirement.
The Guardian
4 hours 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
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Revealed: Huge difference between what Vinicius Junior wants and what Real Madrid are offering as contract standoff continues
Vinicius Junior 's contract saga at Real Madrid has taken another twist — with fresh claims revealing just how far apart the two parties are in negotiations. The Brazilian winger, who turned 25 last month and celebrated with a lavish two-day party in Rio de Janeiro, is said to be demanding more than €25million net per year to extend his stay at the Bernabeu. According to Spanish radio programme El Larguero, broadcast on Cadena SER, that figure has been deemed excessive by Real Madrid, who are reportedly only willing to offer close to €20m net annually — around £335,000 per week before tax. One source close to the player reportedly told El Larguero that accepting the club's current offer would be 'absurd', adding: 'He wants to earn more than €25m net, regardless of what other players earn.' Vinicius is under contract until June 2027 and has publicly stated he wants to remain in Madrid 'for a long time'. But the ongoing standoff means no new talks are currently scheduled. According to Cadena SER, the forward's entourage have now 'parked' the issue and will not re-enter discussions until 2026 at the earliest. Real Madrid's patience may also be wearing thin. While Vinicius has a huge €1billion release clause, the club are reportedly willing to consider offers if his wage demands don't soften — a startling change of tone considering his status as one of the team's most marketable stars. It's a far cry from the optimism Vinicius expressed earlier this year. Back in February, he said: 'It's very exciting to be able to open talks with Real Madrid about my renewal.' He added: 'God willing, the negotiations will be resolved in the coming days and I'll be able to stay here for much longer.' Vinicius has scored 106 goals in 322 games for Madrid since joining the club as an 18-year-old in 2018.
