Lewis Hamilton is not ‘useless' but must accept he is not the driver he once was

Telegraph

4 days ago

The suggestion from Lewis Hamilton that Ferrari should find someone to replace him is nonsense. The remark was made soon after he watched his team-mate take a shock pole position on a track that he himself has dominated at over the years with eight wins and nine poles.
It was surely not a serious suggestion, but was rather made with the dejection from qualifying 12th still raw. Hamilton was again wearing his heart on his sleeve. For any Formula One driver this result would hurt. For an F1 driver with seven world championships – and a desire to win a record eighth – it is evidently unbearable. On Sunday morning, he may feel differently.
Clearly, this was not a good performance by any stretch of the imagination. 'Absolutely useless' are the exact words Hamilton used. Yet perhaps his comments at the Hungaroring are more reflective of the current state of play at Ferrari in 2025. Hamilton has now had 13 races to settle into the car, the culture and the general environment at Maranello. That is plenty, but at the same time, it is a long way from the six years that Leclerc has had.
"I'm useless, absolutely useless" 😔
A devastated Lewis Hamilton after his Q2 exit in Hungary 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/o2VIXMlpwg
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) August 2, 2025
On paper, Hamilton is performing decently. He has at least won a race in 2025 – albeit a sprint race – and is only 30 points behind Leclerc, who has had a strong season yet again. He has not been outclassed by the man 13 years his junior, but he has been second best. In only two grands prix has Hamilton finished ahead and in just five qualifying sessions of 17 has he been the lead Ferrari. In the run of five races before the Belgian Grand Prix last weekend, Hamilton actually had the stronger qualifying average of the two Ferrari drivers.
The strength of his emotions on Saturday evening are probably coloured by the events of the past couple of weeks. Let us not forget that Hamilton had a reasonably strong weekend in the rain at Silverstone, narrowly missing out on a home podium after qualifying ahead of Leclerc. Progress was being made as he drew closer to Leclerc's qualifying pace.
Does Hamilton still have 'it'?
At the following race in Belgium, though, Ferrari brought an upgraded rear suspension. It was hoped this would help the team set the car up more in its optimal window and for the drivers to have a car they could trust more. That was the case for Leclerc, who qualified and finished fourth in the sprint race and qualified and finished third in the Sunday grand prix at Spa. Hamilton, meanwhile, was eliminated in both SQ1 and Q1, qualifying 18th and 16th. He fought back to seventh in the grand prix but it was Leclerc who took a fourth podium in six races as well as the plaudits.
Trying to even half-heartedly entertain the proposition of Ferrari changing drivers is silly. It would not happen mid-season. Even next year, who on the grid would be a sensible and feasible replacement? Hamilton may no longer be performing at the very top of his game but he is still one of the best drivers on the grid with a wealth of experience, technical knowledge and the drive to succeed. Yet on the evidence of the last few seasons, he is no longer in the very top bracket of drivers, perhaps a notch or two currently below Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri, George Russell and Charles Leclerc.
Does Hamilton still have 'it'? There are still a few times in a season when he can find 'it' but they are less frequent than at his peak and less frequent than the men in the group above.
For the majority of his career, he has been able to operate at an elevated level across most of the season. That is why he was able to win six world championships in seven years. However good your machinery is, success like that does not happen by accident. Yet for any sportsman the race against age and waning powers is one that cannot be won. It is too early to say if that is the case for Hamilton now, but we will know in another two or three years.
The decline of Michael Schumacher – another man with seven world titles to his name – was more drastic and apparent because he had three seasons out of F1 before returning with Mercedes. In that stint, he was beaten comfortably by Nico Rosberg but still had the occasional moment, like his Monaco 'pole' in 2012.
Hamilton's decline has been more gradual and less obvious. It is also allied to his struggles to get to grips with the current post-2021 generation of ground-effect cars. He, too, is now up against someone with far less success but with comparable talent. As much as Hamilton appears to no longer be the driver he once was, the hardest thing for him may be to accept the dawning reality that the man in the other car is just quicker.