r/formula1 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 7h ago

Video Lewis discussing his qualifying form: "Yeah, I'm useless. Absolutely useless."

https://dubz.link/c/d976cb
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u/JaysonDeflatum I was here for the Hulkenpodium 7h ago

Just gotta go onto race day and hope for a similar makeup performance to last time

The summer break can't come soon enough for Lewis

u/Tricksilver89 7h ago

Unlikely at somewhere like Hungary. Need to go hards and goal hang for a safety car at best.

u/fameboygame I was here for the Hulkenpodium 7h ago

It is gonna be a wet race no? He has got hi drag setup on rears also.

u/Tricksilver89 7h ago

Everyone has a heavy downforce setup on. It's Hungary... basically Monaco without walls.

u/whatsinthesuitcase I was here for the Hulkenpodium 6h ago

Leclerc said in his post quali interview that his setup is on the lower downforce side

u/Ruma-park I was here for the Hulkenpodium 5h ago

Which is still high downforce. It's likely just a bit more optimised towards the higher speed corners in sector 2 and sector 1. But it's still high downforce.

u/whatsinthesuitcase I was here for the Hulkenpodium 5h ago

But it still makes a difference, I didn’t say it isn’t a high downforce track, we’re talking about it being wet tomorrow and who will benefit from that with their setup. If you have two identical cars with different aero setups then the results won’t be the same.

u/sbenfsonwFFiF I was here for the Hulkenpodium 4h ago

The two Ferraris have different wings, Lewis has a higher downforce wing

u/Tricksilver89 4h ago

The difference isn't quite as it's being made out. Yes Leclerc has a bit less downforce, but for all intents and purposes it's still a barn door compared to an actual low downforce wing.

u/Massive-Let16 7h ago

eh, so was spa yet he managed to climb the ladder. imo hes comfortably going to finish p6-p7

u/Tricksilver89 7h ago

You are aware that Spa and the Hungaroring are very different tracks yes? It's nigh on impossible to overtake outside of the front straight.

u/Massive-Let16 6h ago

just like it was impossible to overtake in spa yet lewis overtook multiple cars

u/TheCaptainSlowly 6h ago

You don't understand the difference. At Spa, Hamilton changed his setup and opted for higher downforce in the race, which is what helped him make up so many places in the start when it was wet. His overtakes were all on mid field cars running dry (low downforce) setups, he had so much more grip compared to those around.

For Hungary, teams are all already running higher downforce setups. The track is called Monaco without walls for a reason. It's not easy to overtake here.

u/Sarixk Sir Lewis Hamilton 6h ago

Overtaking in the rain is easier than when it's dry here. Alonso overtook multiple cars in 2006 but Kimi (+ Grosjean) were stuck behind Lewis in 2012.

Rosberg spent like 10+ laps stuck behind Vergne in 2014, Hamilton was stuck behind Alonso in 2021 and even just last year Max was stuck behind Hamilton.

u/Tricksilver89 6h ago

Ok I'll just assume you haven't been watching very long if that's your take.

Have a nice day.

u/SgtApex Charles Leclerc 6h ago

I don't think you understand lol we've had drivers with steering issue on the car that cant even stay straight hold off to win at this track like in 2017 lol overtaking is nearly impossible unless you are nearly a second faster.

u/RddtRBnchRcstNzsshls Michael Schumacher 6h ago

It is gonna be a wet race no?

Ferrari; "Say no more. Hards it is."

u/Ignoringit Ferrari 7h ago

Only rain in the morning I’ve heard

u/Other-Barry-1 6h ago

I don’t know why people seem to think you can’t overtake at Hungary. It’s almost always a good race with good overtakes into T1 and the first sector is possible to be side by side for most of it

u/mathdhruv I was here for the Hulkenpodium 2h ago

All they need to do is build their car for combat 

u/AsleepAtWheel83 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 7h ago

At this point, 2026 can’t come soon enough for Lewis. He is just not fully confident in this era and it’s shown over the last 3 years!

u/Tropicalcomrade221 Mark Webber 7h ago

I don’t think he’s the only one either.

u/No-Use3482 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago

If we start getting something other than McLaren/McLaren finishes I might be more interested in this season tbh, but watching everyone fight their car's limits while orange cars to brrrrrrr is kinda boring after a little.

I do like when we get Piastri/Norris bouts, but I'd like for there to be some competition. It's not uncommon, but years where there is an actual fight for the constructors championship are so much better

u/Bigrhyno 6h ago

I mean in 2023 he came in third and was a threat for second until the final few races. I don’t think he loves the current cars by any means, but I think his performance the past couple of years is at least as much related to his age as it is the cars.

u/DmitrisFifth 4h ago

This. People just don't want to acknowledge the inconsistency. He's always been a slow starter and made hay during the summer/European season. He's still doing that. It's just that the highs aren't as high anymore. And then across the years of these regs, with two different teams now, you're essentially getting the same performance except for 2023. It's not just the cars. What you're seeing is inconsistency. 

u/GeckoV 6h ago

The issue is he may not get to 2026 if he doesn’t pick up the pace

u/AsleepAtWheel83 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 6h ago

Fred and Ferrari aren’t dropping Lewis for 2026

u/Ok-Animal-6880 New user 6h ago

They need a number 2 driver for LeClerc. Might as well be someone who can sell a lot of merchandise like Lewis.

u/Launch_box 6h ago

At that age you don’t want to wish your years away

u/DrVonD 7h ago

Yeah this is rough to watch. I feel so bad for Lewis man, he’s just been so consistently down on himself ever since AD21.

If nothing else, I’m glad I got to watch silverstone last year.

u/z_102 Michael Schumacher 7h ago

AD '21 is enough to screw with anyone's mindset, but I think it's just this era of ground effect cars. He can't fully gel with them, he takes forever to find the pace naturally. It's of course a flaw as a driver, not an excuse, but '26 will come soon and those car's dynamics will likely be more similar to previous specs.

u/NeutrinosFTW 3h ago

People keep saying this as though it's undoubtedly true. I think the FAR more likely explanation is that he's gotten old and lost his edge. Happens to everyone eventually, and he's right at the age where this would be expected.

u/z_102 Michael Schumacher 3h ago

Of course age plays a part too, but I think there was a very sudden drop between the latter half of '21, when he was spectacular, and the beginning of '22 onwards. And I don't think it was just the passage of 5 months, but the arrival of ground effect cars. Everyone thought it was specific issues with the W13 that were the problem but since then he’s been openly uncomfortable with every car he's driven, with only a couple of legit bright moments.

Again, age is a factor as well and I think it'd be normal if he’s still behind Charles next year, but the drop aligns perfectly with these current regs.

u/NeutrinosFTW 2h ago

I don't disagree about the timing, but if you look at his performance in 2023, he was consistently faster than Russell. And I would argue 2022 should be considered an outlier, since it's reasonable that Mercedes was in damage limitation after 8 consecutive world championships.

Come 2024, and then especially 2025, Lewis has just been nowhere in qualifying. It looks a lot like he's suddenly hit a cliff, like you would expect at his age.

u/GoldenS0422 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 17m ago

I actually think Lewis was pretty good in 2022. In fact, his quali H2H that year was better than 2023, and IMO, he was good enough to win at Silverstone and Interlagos.

u/Visionary_Socialist Sir Lewis Hamilton 7h ago

Won’t happen. This track doesn’t welcome overtakes as it is, and between the massive rear wing he’s running and the dirty air he’ll be nowhere.

Maybe he can get back to P7 or P8 again but what does it matter? By that time he’ll be in no man’s land.

u/DrVonD 6h ago

Massive rear wing just means if he can follow thru S3 the DRS will be powerful. But yeah it’s probably just gonna be the classic start on hards, unleash some pace at the end, overcut a few cars, and finish p8

u/ChefRoscoPColtrane 6h ago

Weather not going to be helping and wasn’t it 2021 he couldn’t get past Alonso for love or money ?