After the Hungarian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton says he’s ready for a holiday. The seven-time world champion didn’t make it past Q2 in the qualifying session on Saturday, and on Sunday he could do no better than twelfth place. However, Hamilton remains combative: ‘The fight is not over yet.’
Lewis Hamilton’s weekend in Hungary didn’t improve after his disappointing qualification. The Brit started the race in twelfth place and finished seventy laps later in the same position. ‘Useless,’ the Brit called himself on Saturday, and the mood of the seven-time world champion didn’t improve much after the race. “It was pretty bad,” Hamilton sums up his weekend to F1TV. “I don’t feel any different than yesterday, and I’m glad it’s over. I’m looking forward to getting away.”
After the qualification, Hamilton even judged that Ferrari should look for a new driver, as he wouldn’t be good enough for the team. The seven-time world champion is asked by Sky Sports F1 to explain his comment. “I just felt that way,” says Hamilton. “There’s also a lot going on in the background that’s not going great.” The Brit does thank Ferrari for all their work during ‘a weekend to forget quickly’.
However, the world champion hasn’t completely lost his fighting spirit. Hamilton hopes to use the summer break to ‘reset, recharge and come back stronger’. “I’m not where I want to be yet, but the fight is not over. Don’t count me out yet,” he sounds still combative.
Battle with Verstappen
Hamilton’s battle with Max Verstappen for eleventh place provided a thrilling moment during the Grand Prix. The Dutchman dived inside at turn four, and Hamilton veered off to the runoff area to avoid a collision. The Ferrari driver says after the race he ‘doesn’t really remember the moment, to be honest’. “I saw at the last moment that he was close to my rear wheel, so I tried to avoid a collision,” the driver concludes.
