Lewis Hamilton and his Ferrari turmoil – the dream F1 move quickly becoming a nightmare

It was possibly the biggest driver transfer in Formula 1 history. Two of the sport's world-famous names joined together when Lewis Hamilton, after 12 years with Mercedes and already a seven-time champion, agreed to join forces with Ferrari.

He had two simple aims: fulfil his childhood dream of driving the famous red car, and secure an eighth title before he retires. But that latter ambition looks further away than ever after a hellish Hungarian Grand Prix which prompted one of the most desperate statements the Brit has ever made in his long F1 career.

It was a tough watch as Hamilton, head bowed and mumbling in the media pen after qualifying 12th on a track where he has taken pole position nine times before, muttered: "I'm useless, absolutely useless," before suggesting his team "probably need to change driver".

His mood was no better a day later when, having finished exactly where he started, pointless and one lap down on the leaders, he cryptically stated: "There is a lot going on in the background that is not great."

Why is Hamilton struggling when Charles Leclerc is challenging?

That's the question to which Hamilton and everyone at Ferrari would love to know the answer. And it's also most likely why the Brit is taking it so hard at the moment – he has been beaten by team-mates before, but never so comprehensively.

Hamilton is sixth in the championship, just one place below Leclerc, with 109 points compared to the 151 amassed by the Monegasque. That does not look too damning on paper, until you delve into the head-to-head statistics. Leclerc has outqualified Hamilton 10 times out of 14 so far this year, and finished ahead of the Brit on 11 occasions.

It would have been 12, had not both been disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix back in March. Leclerc also has five Grand Prix podiums this year and that one pole position in Hungary at the weekend, compared to zero for Hamilton in either category.

It was always going to take time for Hamilton to settle in, while this is Leclerc's seventh season with the Scuderia. Adapting his driving style to an unfamiliar Ferrari has been akin to an old dog learning new tricks for Hamilton this year whereas, before the seven-time champion joined, the team had built its designs around Leclerc's needs.

The hope is that this will change next year. Hamilton has been vocal about the meetings he has held with Ferrari's leadership and top design chiefs to help them build him a car more suited to what he wants. He will need to grit his teeth and push through this year and hope that all his input on their 2026 car pays off. If he continues to struggle compared to Leclerc next term, then that is when Hamilton should be truly concerned.

Could Hamilton quit Ferrari this season?

His words in Budapest and the tone in which they were delivered have to be taken with a pinch of salt. Hamilton has a default when things go so badly wrong – the 40-year-old wears his heart on his sleeve and rarely tries too hard to hide what he is feeling when a microphone is shoved under his nose seconds after climbing out of his car.

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He does not actually want Ferrari to change driver, nor does the team wish to do that. He made sure to confirm that he "still loves racing" and told reporters before departing the Hungaroring on Sunday night: "I'm looking forward to coming back [after the summer break]. I'll be back, yeah."

Hamilton has a contract for the 2026 season and it would be an extreme shock if he were to quit before seeing that out. Whether or not his skills have waned is a topic up for debate, but what cannot be questioned is the determination to keep going that he has displayed throughout his entire racing career.

What do Ferrari and Frederic Vasseur think of Hamilton's struggles?

There was a particularly frosty moment on Sunday evening when print media gathered in the Ferrari motorhome for Vasseur's Q&A session. It came when one reporter asked the Frenchman whether he felt signing Hamilton and making him the highest-paid driver on the F1 grid again, earning £50million per year, was good value for money.

It was not a subject that Vasseur, who has one of the widest smiles in the paddock but also an intense stare which could match anyone's, was willing to entertain. He replied with a withering tone: "I am not sure that I understand your question, or if I do understand then it is not a good one."

Quizzed about Hamilton's downbeat comments in Budapest, the team principal did not sound overly concerned about his driver's state of mind. He said: "He is frustrated, but not demotivated. I can perfectly understand the situation. He is demanding, but that is why he is a seven-time world champion.

"First of all, he is very demanding with himself. When you are seven-time world champion, your team-mate is in pole position and you are out in Q2, it's a tough situation. I can understand the frustration from Lewis, but this is normal and he will come back."

What has Toto Wolff said?

If there is one person in the paddock who can understand and speak Hamilton-ese fluently, it is his former boss at Mercedes. Asked in his own session with journalists for his take on the Brit's words and situation, Wolff made it clear he does not believe his old driver is on the decline – but stopped short of explicitly backing him to win another F1 title.

The Austrian said: "That is Lewis wearing his heart on the sleeve. It is what he thought when he was asked after the session. It was very raw. He was doubting himself, and we had it in the past when he felt that he underperformed his own expectations and your team-mate is on pole, and he has been that emotionally transparent since he was a young boy or young adult.

"He is the GOAT and he will always be the GOAT, and nobody is going to take that away. That is something he needs to always remember, that he is the greatest of all time. Lewis has unfinished business in Formula 1. In the same way that Mercedes underperformed over this latest set of regulations since 2022, we kind of never got happy with ground-effect cars. And in the same way, it bit him.

"If he has a car underneath him that he has confidence in, that does what he wants, then yes [he can be champion again]. If he has a car that is not giving him the feedback that he wants, and that was the Mercedes of the past few years, and that seems to be the Ferrari, and even worse, then not. But you ask me whether he has it, he definitely has it."