Lewis Hamilton says there’s ‘a lot going on in the background that is not great’ after saying he’s ‘useless’ at Hungarian GP

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Lewis Hamilton doubled down on self-critical comments he made on Saturday after a poor finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The seven-time world champion called himself “useless” and suggested Ferrari might need to change drivers after qualifying in 12th position at the Hungaroring, with teammate Charles Leclerc qualifying on pole.

“It’s me every time. I’m useless, absolutely useless,” Hamilton told Sky Sports. “The team have no problem. You’ve seen the car’s on pole. So they probably need to change driver.”

In Sunday’s race, Hamilton was unable to improve on his starting position, finishing in 12th and over a lap behind race-winner Lando Norris of McLaren.

His race was punctuated by an incident with former title rival Max Verstappen, when their cars came extremely close to touching and Hamilton was forced off track but both drivers avoided punishment.

Hamilton was asked about his post-qualifying comments after Sunday’s Grand Prix and continued to cut a down-beat figure.

“When you have a feeling, you have a feeling,” the British driver said. “There is a lot going on in the background that is not great.”

He was then asked whether he still had the passion to continue racing and Hamilton was more emphatic.

“No, I still love it, I still love the team,” the 40-year-old said.

In a press conference with written media, Hamilton added that he’ll “hopefully be back” when F1 returns from its summer break at the Dutch Grand Prix on August 31, according to Sky Sports.

Hamilton finished 12th at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Hoch Zwei/picture-alliance/dpa/AP

In a statement released by Ferrari though after the race, Hamilton was more definitive, calling the whole weekend “challenging” and “one to move on from.”

“We weren’t able to make the progress we hoped for, but I’m grateful for the effort everyone in the team put in throughout the weekend,” he said. “Now, we head into the break. I’ll be using the time to reset, recharge and come back stronger. I’m not where I want to be yet, but the fight’s not over – don’t count me out.”

It’s been a frustrating debut season with Ferrari as a whole for Hamilton. He currently sits sixth in the driver’s championship standings, one place and 42 points behind Leclerc but 175 points behind current leader Oscar Piastri.

He’s failed to make a podium in any of the 14 Grands Prix in 2025, finishing fourth on three occasions.

After the Hungarian GP, Fred Vasseur – Ferrari team principal – was confident that Hamilton will come back stronger after the summer break.

“I don’t need to motivate him. He’s frustrated, but not demotivated, it’s a completely different story,” Vasseur said, per Sky Sports. “I can perfectly understand the situation.

“Sometimes you are making comments on what the driver (is) saying to the car, but you put the microphone on some other sportsman in football, and so not sure that it would be much better.

“You know that they are in the performance and sometimes they are making comments even when they jump out of the car. I can understand the frustration … we are all frustrated.”

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