Ferrari Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton was dejected after being knocked out in Q2 of the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying session. This is a stark contrast to his teammate Charles Leclerc’s result, who secured pole position. Hamilton said in a low tone that the team “probably needs to change driver.”
Hamilton complained of balance problems on his SF-25 F1 car after the second practice session. He will start the race at the Hungaroring in P12 after a lap time of 1:15.702 seconds. Hamilton was heard on the team radio after Q2, saying, “Every time. Every time.” When asked what that was about, the seven-time world champion said:
“Oh it’s me every time.”
Joe Portlock/Getty Images
Hamilton has often been frustrated by his qualifying performances. When asked if it was that, he said:
“Yeah, useless, absolutely useless.”
When asked if it was the car that Ferrari has been trying to setup for him, he said:
“The team has no problem, you’ve seen the car is on pole, so we probably need to change driver.”
Hamilton predicted following the second practice session on Friday that he would not be able to match Leclerc’s qualifying pace. Newsweek Sports reported his comments:
“I mean, Charles has been quick today. I mean, he’s been generally happy with the car. For me, I’m quite far off, so I highly, highly doubt it.”
The Briton has secured pole position nine times in the past at the Hungaroring. Speaking about the challenge he was facing with the car after FP2, Hamilton said:
“Big, big struggle with the balance of the car and yeah, a lot different to the previous years I’ve been here.”
Elaborating on the problem, he said:
“We tried two different things. We tried rectifying some of the balance problems we had in P1. We changed the car for P2, and it’s just inconsistent, very, very inconsistent balance from corner to corner.
“So you can’t say it’s just understeer. You can’t just say it’s oversteer. It’s just far from being on rails and very, very out of balance. But I think it’s probably something to do with maybe tyre temperatures or something. So we’re gonna try and figure that out for tomorrow.”
Hungarian GP Qualifying Results:
1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3. Lando Norris (McLaren)
4. George Russell (Mercedes)
5. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
6. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
7. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
8. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
10. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
11. Ollie Bearman (Haas)
12. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
13. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
14. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
15. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
16. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
17. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
18. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
19. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
20. Alex Albon (Williams)