Hamilton feeling ‘useless’ after Hungarian GP qualifying flop

BUDAPEST: A crestfallen Lewis Hamilton declared himself “useless” after qualifying in 12th position for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday as Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc surged to pole position.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton exited the session in Q2 with his head down and his helmet on as the 40-year-old retreated to the team’s motor home.

“I’m useless,” said the British driver.

“Absolutely useless. The team has no problem. You’ve seen the car on pole so they probably need to change driver.”

But he was backed to bounce back by four-time champion Max Verstappen who himself ranted about his Red Bull car and team after struggling to line up eighth on the grid.

“Looking at the whole weekend, I think we’re happy to be in Q3 because I’ve been more outside the top 10 than in it — so, yeah, it’s been difficult this whole weekend,” said the Dutch driver.

“No grip, front and rear, and it was the same in qualifying so, for me, it was not really a shock. I just drove to what I already feel the whole weekend.”

The 27-year-old Dutchman added that Red Bull — who had left a towel in his cockpit during a pitstop on Friday which led him to throw it out of the car, 24 hours after he had declared he was staying for 2026 — did not yet understand the problems with the car.

“No, clearly not,” he said. “I mean, otherwise, of course, we would have changed it already, but somehow, this weekend, nothing seems to work.”

Last year, Verstappen said he had been quick enough to challenge for pole, but this season, “from lap one, it just felt off — and we threw the car around a lot and nothing really gave a direction.

“Now, it’s just nothing works. You know, it’s like just going around in circles and nothing gives you any kind of