Italian media have offered a brutally honest assessment of Lewis Hamilton’s woeful Hungarian Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver’s season has been hugely disappointing compared to the fanfare and expectation that followed his move from Mercedes at the start of this season.
Having been knocked out in the first part of both sprint and full-length qualifying last weekend in Belgium, the seven-time world champion went on to endure the most challenging weekend of his Ferrari career so far at the Hungaroring. He was axed in the second qualifying phase, securing just a 12th-place start in Saturday’s qualifying. Team-mate Charles Leclerc qualifying in pole position only rubbed salt in the Brit’s wounds. Afterwards, a miserable Hamilton gave a concerning interview, saying: “I’m just useless,” before going on to say that Ferrari “probably need to change the driver”. He fared no better in Sunday’s race, unable to make up the positions on a difficult track and finishing in 12th, meaning he was unable to claim any points.
His defeated outlook and persistent struggles with the Italian outfit this season led many fans and experts to speculate whether age is finally catching up with the 40-year-old and comment on whether his time in F1 could be up. Italian outlet Corriere della Sera used bold language when assessing Hamilton’s weekend, describing him as a “schoolboy”.
It wrote: ”A master of communication who now struggles to find the words, alternating between disheartening statements and hollow clichés. Lewis looks like a schoolboy reluctantly dragged out from behind the chalkboard—desperately in need of a trip to anywhere without corners, kerbs, or people dressed in red.”
Another Italian outlet, La Repubblica, went as far as giving the Brit a brutally low grade, labelling his weekend a four out of 10: ”Starting 12th, finishing 12th – a flat-line performance. His Saturday remarks made waves: a self-admission that he’s the wrong kind of driver and needs to change. Sunday didn’t bring any improvement. He struggled, fought hard, but ultimately ended up sadly outside the points. Fans are left unsure what to make of it all.” La Gazette Dello Sport also gave Hamilton a disappointing mark of five out of 10 for his weekend.
However, an opinion piece in the paper also read: “A champion is never a champion by chance. Lewis is struggling, but he’ll recover; he’s done it before.”
Hamilton admitted post-race that he felt “the same” as he had after qualifying. “When you have a feeling, you have a feeling. There’s a lot going on in the background that is not great,” he told Sky Sports F1 when asked if he could explain his Saturday comments further.
However, he did go on to add: “I’m sure there are positives to take from the weekend and I’m sure there’s learnings.” And opening up about his mindset going into the summer break, Hamilton stated: “Same as it was yesterday. I’m glad it’s over. I’m looking forward to going away.”
Hamilton now has some time to reset ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of this month. While currently being in sixth place in the drivers’ standings indicates that things may not be as bad as they seem currently, the belief is that more difficult weekends like Hungary could lead the F1 legend to part ways with Ferrari before the end of his contract, which currently runs until the end of the 2026 season.