Domenicali: Incredible athlete Hamilton is a jewel and wants 8th F1 title

It was a low moment for Hamilton at a venue where he has won the Grand Prix eight times, double the next best Michael Schumacher, but Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur was quick to defend his driver after a tough weekend filled with frustration and mixed messages.

The seven-time F1 World Champion stunned all after qualifying P12 on Saturday and then finishing where he started on Sunday, telling Sky Sports: “I'm useless, absolutely useless.” Hamilton went further, saying, “The team have no problem. You've seen the car’s on pole. So they probably need to change the driver.”

Hamilton also hinted at deeper personal issues: “There are things happening in the background.” And when asked about the summer break and his mood heading into it, he left Hungary with a cryptic remark: “Hopefully, I will be back, yeah.”

Springing in his defence, Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali told F1.com that Hamilton’s poor form should not be overblown. “First of all, Lewis is a jewel; he is an incredible athlete, so no matter if it is a difficult moment, he will react, and I’m pretty sure he will show the reason why he is here.

“He wants to achieve his eighth title, and he will triumph again. So, stay with Lewis and he will do a great race, and be very, very strong after the summer,” said Domenicali, a former Ferrari team principal.

Vasseur, who recently signed a new multi-year contract to remain in charge at Maranellol, rejected suggestions that Hamilton’s motivation is fading: “I don't need to motivate him, honestly. He's frustrated but not demotivated; it's a completely different story.

“Again, I can perfectly understand the situation and you can, sometimes you are making comments on what the driver is saying to the car, but if you put the microphone on some other sportsman in football and so on, I'm not sure that it would be much better.

“Sometimes they are making rash comments, even when they jump out of the car. I can understand the frustration, but we are all frustrated and sometimes if you ask me, I can't say this, I will go to the stewards.

"But sometimes just after the race, or just after the Quali, you are very disappointed and the reaction, the first reaction is harsh, but we all know that we are pushing in the same direction,” insisted the Frenchman.

After a torrid qualifying on Saturday in Hungary, it got no better for Hamilton on raceday. Vasseur explained: "Starting on Hards, he lost a couple of places and that put him in traffic in a very long DRS train, which is the worst possible scenario. That’s what decided us to go for a one-stop with him."

Vasseur said Hamilton's intensity and critical approach are integral to the standards he sets, and a big part of why he has won so much in Formula 1.

“Yes, he's demanding, but I think it's also why he is seven-time World Champion, that he is demanding with the team, with the car, with the engineers, with the mechanics, with myself also, but first of all he is very demanding with himself,” said Vasseur.

Hamilton heads into the summer break in P6 in the standings, 106 points behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in the 2025 F1 Drivers' Championship. With ten races to go, time is running out, but not necessarily hope.

F1 Stats show that in the teammate head-to-head with Charles Leclerc, Hamilton trails the Monegasque 4-10 in Qualifying and 2-11 in the race. in 2024, the Briton's last year with Mercedes, George Russell beat him in the final points standings.

Hamilton is enduring the worst patch of an illustrious nearly two-decade career long run at the sharp end of proceedings in Formula 1. Last year, P7 in the World Championship standings was his worst finish ever. This year, might not be much better.