Lewis Hamilton hit the lowest point of his Ferrari career so far at the Hungarian Grand Prix where he qualified and finished 12th, declared himself “useless” and said the team should replace him
Charles Leclerc said he is “desperate” for Lewis Hamilton to get back to his best amid the darkest period of the Brit’s Ferrari career. The Hungarian Grand Prix was a particularly chastening experience for the seven-time Formula 1 champion who qualified only 12th and made no progress in the race.
After Saturday’s session, he declared himself “useless” and suggested the team should replace him in a difficult-to-watch interview. And his mood was no better after the race itself, stating bluntly that “nothing had changed” from the previous day.
The summer break has arrived at the perfect time for Hamilton who had the air of a man who desperately needs to reset. And Leclerc hopes that is team-mate can get it together soon to help push the team on to new heights.
The Monegasque said: “At the end we are one team, and as much as I want to finish in front of Lewis, I want both of us to be successful, and Ferrari to be successful.
“Obviously, this weekend has been a tough one for Lewis, but I have no doubt it is a one-off and I am sure the second part of the season will be a lot more positive.”
Leclerc has been by far the stronger Ferrari driver so far this year. He is only one place above Hamilton in the championship, the Scuderia duo fifth and sixth, but has 151 points compared to the Brit’s 109 and has stood on the podium five times so far, while Hamilton has yet to record a top-three finish.
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Leclerc has also regularly had Hamilton’s number in both qualifying and the race. He has outqualified his team-mate 10 times out of 14 so far this year, and finished ahead of the Brit on 11 occasions – that figure would have been 12, had they not both been disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix back in March.
Despite their struggles at times, Ferrari head into the summer break second in the championship, 14 points ahead of Mercedes. Leaders McLaren are 299 points clear and almost guaranteed the title, meaning the best the Scuderia can hope for is to be the best of the rest behind them.
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Ferrari also face the prospect of a first season since 2020 without a Grand Prix win, which was the only year in which they failed to take a single victory in the 21st century. And Leclerc does not have much hope that they will be able to prevent that from happening.
He said: “I don’t think we are going into the second half of the season thinking that we can win anywhere, and that’s what makes the frustration even bigger, because we knew that this was one opportunity probably over the season and we had to take it, but unfortunately with [his car issue suffered in the Budapest race] we couldn’t do much.”