Lewis Hamilton declared himself “useless” and said Ferrari “probably need to change driver” in a gut-wrenching interview after qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. He had failed to make the top 10 after a disappointing Q2 exit and is set to start Sunday’s race 12th on the grid.
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.
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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.
Leclerc laughed on the radio when he was told by his team that he had bettered the times set by both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. And when he picked up the microphone for his post-session interview in parc ferme, he was still chuckling.
“I don’t understand anything in Formula 1,” he smiled. “The whole qualifying was extremely difficult Q3, everything became a lot trickier, I just knew it had to be a clean lap. I definitely did not expect that. We are on pole position, I have no words, probably one of the best I’ve ever had, the most unexpected for sure.”
The McLaren drivers knew that, in their two-horse title race, all that mattered was that they beat their team-mate. Piastri was the one who achieved that, pipping Norris to the other place on the front row of the grid and forcing the Brit to overtake his title rival on Sunday if he is to avoid losing ground in the championship.
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Piastri heads into the Budapest race 16 points ahead of Norris and will be looking to give himself more breathing space heading into the summer break. After the Hungary race, F1 will not come together again until the end of August for the Dutch Grand Prix.
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