I'm just useless, says Hamilton after team-mate's pole

Yahoo

3 days ago

Hungarian Grand Prix
Venue: Hungaroring Dates: 1-3 August Race start: 14:00 BST on Sunday
Coverage: Live commentary of practice and qualifying on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 with race on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app
Lewis Hamilton said he was "just useless" after qualifying 12th for the Hungarian Grand Prix while his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc took pole position.
Hamilton failed to progress beyond the second qualifying session after struggling for pace compared to Leclerc all weekend.
Leclerc took Ferrari's first grand prix pole position of the year, although Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix sprint race from pole at the second event of the season.
A downcast Hamilton said: "I drove terribly. It is what it is."
He added: "I'm just useless," and said his lack of pace was "nothing to do with the car".
In Hungary, Hamilton was 0.247secs slower than Leclerc in the second part of qualifying, in which he was knocked out and the Monegasque was sixth fastest.
Hamilton is 12-5 down to Leclerc on their qualifying head-to-head this year, at an average pace difference of 0.146 seconds.
His form on Saturdays in 2025 continues the struggles in qualifying Hamilton had against George Russell in his final year at Mercedes last season.
Even so, his result in Hungary bucks a trend in which he has generally been much closer to Leclerc since the seventh race of the season.
Belgium last weekend, in which he was knocked out in the first session in qualifying for both the sprint and the grand prix after making mistakes, had been an exception to that run.
Although clearly frustrated by his own performance, Hamilton congratulated Leclerc on his pole.
"It's amazing for the team that the car is capable of being on pole," the seven-time champion said, "so big congrats to Charles."
Leclerc came into the weekend talking about how he had never gelled with the Hungaroring during his career, but he ends Saturday with arguably the most surprising and unexpected pole position of the year.
Leclerc had been third fastest behind the McLarens in all three practice sessions, but the world champions appeared out of reach.
However, a change in wind direction between the second and final parts of qualifying threw McLaren off their game and opened the door for Leclerc, who beat championship leader Oscar Piastri to pole with Lando Norris third.
Leclerc said he "didn't understand" because the car felt bad throughout qualifying. But he and the McLaren drivers put the shift in competitiveness down to a change in weather conditions, when not only did the wind change direction by 180 degrees, but the strength of the wind, the temperature and humidity level all changed.
"In Q3, the conditions changed for everybody," Leclerc said. "I basically just did a clean lap, which was a really good lap because those conditions were really difficult to get everything right, and I was really happy about the lap.
"It is probably the most surprising pole position I have ever done, so I'm very happy."
Leclerc said that revisions to the car at the last race in Belgium had helped his confidence when pushing to the limit over one qualifying lap.
Ferrari introduced a new rear suspension which in addition to being aimed at allowing them to run the car lower without risking damaging the floor to the extent that car failed its post-race legality tests was also intended to improve driveability when combined with a new floor introduced three races ago in Austria.
Leclerc said: "The upgrade in Spa definitely helped me to extract a little bit more.
"Before Spa, I had to set up the car in a very, very extreme way early on in the season to try and extract something out of this car in qualifying.
"It was making the car very, very unpredictable and very difficult whenever you go for the 0.1-0.15secs in Q3. It was extremely difficult to get it right. And if you just overstepped a little bit the limits of that previous car, then you will pay the price a lot.
"Whereas with this car, you can play a little bit more with the limits, and if you go over the limits a little bit, you just don't lose as much. So the car is more predictable, which is a good thing."
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Can Leclerc beat the McLarens to win?
Beating the McLarens to pole position is one thing, winning the race is another, as McLaren's race pace has been the team's strongest suit this year.
Leclerc said: "There is some rain around and if it's wet it's easier to overtake but it is always better to be starting first, especially on this track."
Piastri, who heads into the race 16 points ahead of Norris in the championship, described the result of qualifying as "bizarre and somewhat frustrating".
But he said he was "pretty confident" he could win from second on the grid, as he did last year, when Norris was on pole.
"Our pace has been good," Piastri said. "But Charles has been quick all weekend in certain sessions. So it is a very difficult track to overtake on. And yeah, it's not going to be the easiest place to try and regain the lead."
Norris said: "There could be some rain, which normally makes things more interesting. But we always have, at least in the race, a bit more of an advantage.
"But our main competitor over the last four or five races has been Charles, and it's been the Ferrari. So if there was anyone else going to be on pole today, it was going to be Charles. And if there's anyone that's going to make our life tough tomorrow, it's going to be the same guy.
"So, yeah, we'll see. It's a long race. Things can happen and hopefully the rain can be on our side, maybe."