Once his favorite track, now the scene of humiliation: Lewis Hamilton experiences a disaster in Hungary that even makes him question his role at Ferrari
Unlike in Belgium, Lewis Hamilton made it through Q1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix, but the record-breaking Formula 1 world champion suffered an even harder defeat: his teammate Charles Leclerc took pole position in the same car. This is now gnawing away at the superstar’s nerves, who was brutally critical of himself after qualifying at the Hungaroring.
On the inlap, he cryptically said over the radio: “Every time. Every damn time.” When asked after qualifying what he meant by that, he replied: “I mean every time, myself. Useless, absolutely useless! There’s no problem with the team. As you can see, the car is on pole. So we probably need to change drivers.”
These are remarkable words from Hamilton, who during his Mercedes years was not exactly known for taking the blame when things didn’t go according to plan. It was clear in advance that he would need some time to settle in at Ferrari. But even pessimists would not have expected him to struggle so much against Leclerc.
He admits that he didn’t feel “not once” this weekend that he could fight for a better result.
Leclerc’s pole is “fantastic for the team. The car is capable of being on pole, which is a big step forward for Charles and the team.” Not for him personally. Team boss Frederic Vasseur tries to offer some consolation: “Lewis was very close to Charles and missed the cut by 15 thousandths of a second. That will make it difficult for him in the race.”
A look at his decisive lap in Q2: Turn 1 is already not ideal. Hamilton has to brake further into the corner than he would have liked, which means the angle at the exit is not right and the rear wheels spin when accelerating. As a result, his Ferrari SF-25 understeers in the subsequent downhill left-hander, which is normal at this point.
❌ ELIMINATED IN Q2 ❌
Antonelli
Bearman
Hamilton
Sainz
ColapintoF1 HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/3TScmOY5BC— Formula 1 (@F1) August 2, 2025
Next, he loses a little time at the exit of the chicane. Where Charles Leclerc cuts the kerb on the inside of the corner, Hamilton drives right over it, causing the car to become unstable.
In the penultimate corner, the car oversteers again during the load change, and in the final corner, he has to countersteer slightly at the corner entry to prevent oversteering, landing a few centimeters further left than he would have liked and coming out wide at the exit. He shakes his head several times on the cool-down lap.
Upside-down world at the Hungaroring
Even before the weekend, Hamilton was unusually open about his feelings. The living Formula 1 legend admitted quite honestly that he needed time during the summer break to process his first 14 weekends in red and announced that there would probably be tears.
The Hungaroring is actually considered the Brit’s favorite track. In 2007, he scored the third of his current 105 Grand Prix victories in Budapest – and an important psychological victory over his then teammate Fernando Alonso, who had blocked him in the pits at the time.
This was followed by seven more victories at the Hungaroring, including the heroic victory in 2009 in a year that had previously been a disaster for McLaren, his first victory for the Mercedes works team in 2013, and an important second place in 2021, while his championship rival Max Verstappen finished only ninth – after Hamilton had been left alone on the grid with the wrong tires.
For Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, the track in Mogyorod has been a closed book so far. He has not yet managed to finish higher than fourth at the Hungaroring in his career.
