Lewis Hamilton has had a tough time at Ferrari following his move from Mercedes. The seven-time world champion spent 12 years at Brackley, but is struggling to adapt to life in Maranello. The 40-year-old only has a best place finish of fourth in grand prix races this year, securing the result at Imola, Austria and Silverstone.
Hamilton came to Budapest after a difficult weekend in Belgium. The Brit was knocked out of both qualifying sessions in Q1 at Spa. It didn’t get much better in Hungary as Hamilton couldn’t make it past the second session. This left Hamilton angry at his performance, but his boss, Fred Vasseur, backed his recruit.
Fred Vasseur defends Lewis Hamilton following Hungarian GP qualifying shock
Lewis Hamilton will start the Hungarian GP from P12 on the grid after the seven-time world champion failed to make it into Q3 for the second race running. However, his teammate Charles Leclerc was able to put his SF-25 in pole position. Hamilton was annoyed with himself after qualifying and was critical of his performance.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, the Brit said: “It’s me every time. I’m useless, absolutely useless. The team have no problem. You’ve seen the cars on pole. So they probably need to change driver.”
Following the self-criticism, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur jumped to defend his driver. Vasseur claims that Ferrari was struggling for pace in the opening two qualifying sessions, but said that Hamilton was unlucky, and that “Lewis was very close to Charles and failed to make the cut by just 15 thousandths of a second.” The Frenchman also conceded that Hamilton will have a “tough race“.
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However, despite Hamilton starting from the pit lane last Sunday, he was able to make his way through the field to finish in P7 and won ‘driver of the day’ from the fans. When Sky Sports pressed Vasseur about Hamilton, the Frenchman concluded: “I think it’s on Sky that he had a fantastic race, no?”
The problem for Lewis is that it is difficult to overtake around the Hungarian circuit. Qualifying is vital for a good race result. The 40-year-old has his work cut out to turn his weekend around. Lewis must take any opportunities he gets and push for an aggressive strategy.
Lewis Hamilton is struggling to keep up with Charles Leclerc
Lewis Hamilton has had a tough start to his Ferrari career. His main problems have been on Saturday, when he has not been able to keep pace with Charles Leclerc. The Monégasque has beaten Lewis 12 times in all qualifying sessions, whereas Hamilton has only won out five times.
Leclerc has also stood on the podium on five occasions this term, while Hamilton is yet to step on the rostrum this year in a grand prix. This has left Leclerc 30 points ahead of his teammate in the standings.
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Leclerc has been with Ferrari for seven years. He is used to how the team works and operates, and knows the direction the car has been developed. However, in contrast, Hamilton has spent much of this season acclimatising to how Ferrari works.
Even during his time at Mercedes, the 40-year-old has struggled with the ground-effect era cars. This is continuing into his Ferrari stint. The light at the end of the tunnel for the Brit is that this cycle of regulations is coming to an end. With the 2026 regulations coming into effect, this could impact Hamilton’s form. He is in bad form at the moment, but the momentum could swing his way next season.
