Lewis Hamilton harshly criticized his own performance in Saturday’s qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, calling it “useless” and even suggesting Ferrari should replace him. The seven-time champion was eliminated in 12th place, while his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc secured pole position—Ferrari’s first this season.
Hamilton had no car issues or traffic problems in Q2—he simply wasn’t fast enough, finishing over two-tenths behind Leclerc. Frustrated, he said: “It’s me every time. I’m useless, absolutely useless. The team has no problem—you saw the car’s on pole. So we probably need to change driver.”
His disappointment was clear right after his underwhelming lap, muttering “Every time, every time” over team radio. He later walked to the Ferrari garage with his gloves covering his visor.
This setback follows another poor qualifying in Belgium, where he started 16th—a result he called “unacceptable.” The Hungaroring is one of Hamilton’s strongest tracks, with eight wins and nine poles, but this season he’s struggled, failing to reach Q3 four times and trailing Leclerc in qualifying battles (10-4). He’s also 30 points behind Leclerc in the standings.
Hamilton’s move to Ferrari after 12 years at Mercedes raised high expectations, but adapting has been tough. Despite a sprint win in China, he hasn’t reached the podium this season—his longest drought without a top-three finish.
Meanwhile, Leclerc took a surprising pole, edging out McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by 0.026 seconds, with Lando Norris just 0.015 seconds behind in third. George Russell finished fourth for Mercedes.
Leclerc admitted he didn’t expect pole, calling it one of his best: “The whole qualifying was extremely difficult. In Q3, conditions changed, and I just had to do a clean lap. It’s probably the most unexpected pole I’ve ever had.”
