Lewis Hamilton ‘in difficult place personally’ as Brundle casts blunt verdict

Martin Brundle finds it “painful” to observe the “strife” which Lewis Hamilton is going through at Ferrari, a union which will reach its expiration date if Hamilton fails to snap out of it.

It has been a difficult first season with Ferrari for Lewis Hamilton, one which hit a new low at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Martin Brundle branded it “one of the worst weekends” in Hamilton’s career. Not only did he struggle at a venue where he is eight times a winner, his comments to the press sparked great concern.

Lewis Hamilton: Can Ferrari career be salvaged?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Minus winning the China Sprint, Hamilton has struggled for highlights in Ferrari red. All five of the team’s podiums have been scored by Charles Leclerc, who is 42 points better off than Hamilton as F1 2025 reaches its summer break.

But Hungary was a concerning new low. After failing to make Q3, while Leclerc claimed a shock first pole of the season, Hamilton branded himself “useless” and suggested Ferrari should replace him.

Speaking to Sky F1 once more after a poor race, which Hamilton finished 12th, he made further concerning comments.

“When you have a feeling, you have a feeling,” he said when pressed on his words from post-qualifying.

“There’s a lot going on in the background that’s not great.”

Hamilton did though insist that: “I still love racing.”

It is proving a hard watch for former F1 driver turned Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle. He said the expectation must be that Hamilton – seven times a World Champion – will “weather the storm,” but if he doesn’t, Brundle foresees a sad and early conclusion to the Hamilton and Ferrari story.

“I’m not looking forward to writing this next section, it’s about Lewis Hamilton, who endured what must have been one of the worst weekends of his career, in and out of the car,” Brundle wrote in his Sky Sports column.

“He struggled for ultimate pace in qualifying, and with the pack so close he would start only 12th when his team-mate Leclerc was on pole. He would then describe himself as ‘useless’ in post-qualifying interviews and suggest the team should change the driver. That was best left unsaid, but he obviously wanted to openly punish himself.

“He’s clearly in a difficult place personally, and during the race he would finish in that same 12th position, never really showing signs of progress.

“He sat in the car in parc ferme post-race for what seemed an age, was very downbeat in interviews again, and then declined to attend a stewards’ enquiry about a rather ambitious move Max Verstappen made on him during the race in the blind and fast Turn 4, in which Lewis chose to drive off the road to avoid contact.

“He didn’t want to contest the incident and conceded via his team, but Max did attend the meeting with a rational explanation from his viewpoint, and avoided a penalty.

“The summer break couldn’t be more timely for Lewis to have a reset. It’s painful to observe this great champion in so much strife, and we have to expect that he can weather the storm and return to form given his talent and experience, but otherwise I simply can’t see him enduring two more seasons at Ferrari, or anywhere else, like this.”

More key Hungarian GP talking points from PlanetF1.com

👉 Hungarian GP driver ratings: New low for Hamilton as Norris overcomes Piastri

👉 Hungarian GP awards: Wins for ‘useless’ Hamilton and invisible Max Verstappen

When speaking to the media, including PlanetF1.com, following the Hungarian Grand Prix, Hamilton was asked directly whether he would still be a Ferrari driver once the season resumes at Zandvoort.

He replied: “I look forward to coming back… Hopefully I will be back, yeah.” However, his thoughts from after qualifying that Ferrari should find a new driver remained unchanged.

While Hamilton’s head clearly dropped at the Hungaroring, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur is not worried about a motivation problem with their big-money signing from Mercedes.

“I don’t need to motivate him, honestly. He’s frustrated, but not demotivated,” Vasseur insisted to the media, including PlanetF1.com. “It’s a completely different story.

“I can perfectly understand the situation. Sometimes you are making comments about what the driver is saying about the car. Put the microphone on some other sportsman in football and so I’m not sure that it would be much better.

“You know that they are in the performance and sometimes they are making comments even when they jump out of the car.

“I can understand the frustration. We are all frustrated.

“Sometimes just after the race, or just after the quali, you are very disappointed, and the reaction, the first reaction, is off.

“But we all know that we are pushing in the same direction.”