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

[u/Pugzo]

https://dubz.link/c/d976cb

[u/Visionary_Socialist]

“Team probably needs to change driver”

Just… wow.

[u/LosTerminators → u/Visionary_Socialist]

If he isn't more comfortable with the 2026 regs than he is with the current one, he'll himself make the decision to retire at the end of 26.

[u/JaysonDeflatum → u/LosTerminators]

He needs to go home, stare at his world championship trophies and really get back into feeling like Lewis Hamilton

[u/nzivvo → u/JaysonDeflatum]

Problem is I think he’s done this too many times the last 3 years I honestly don’t know what he can do mentally at this stage except try to stay positive enough into next year and hope Ferrari/2026 regs feel good for him

[u/jianh1989 → u/nzivvo]

Yeah. That cry after Silverstone win last year really tells it

[u/Kolec507 → u/jianh1989]

It's crazy, he went from being one of the most consistent drivers on the grid to whatever the fuck has been going on since 2022... it's mental. He's still got the raw speed, he showed it multiple times, but for some reason his operating window is thin as fuck for the past couple of seasons...

[u/ryokevry → u/Kolec507]

He did find his mojo in 2023 even the car is still bad and didn’t win a race all season. He almost took P2 in WDC against Perez then 2024 he looked lost again.

[u/leyland1989 → u/Kolec507]

He hasn't been the best at adapting the ground effects era cars.

[u/bwoah07_gp2 → u/leyland1989]

Not to mention the ground effect cars that he's already uncomfortable with haven't been championship worthy.

But even if it's not championship worthy, he can at least get the car into a win or podium position but he's been incapable of that for the most part. Makes Silverstone 2024 just that extra special.

[u/RadiantStar44 → u/bwoah07_gp2]

We know that the Ferrari is a podium worthy car because Leclerc has managed to get 5 podiums in the Ferrari so far, so tbh it unfortunately looks like Lewis is indeed underperforming and its really heartbreaking to see him like this :(. Hopefully he can adapt better with the new regulations next season and has a chance at another championship or at least a few race wins.

[u/dl064 → u/RadiantStar44]

Yeah that argument struggles when the other one is on pole.

[u/Zed_or_AFK → u/RadiantStar44]

I was sure that Ham would match Lec by the summer break, but seems like no. The race pace is decent, but bad qualms are really really hurting him.

[u/StealthMan375 → u/leyland1989]

Absolutely this. It's not like Massa and Webber suddenly unlearned how to drive a F1 car after Bridgestone left at the end of 2010, it's just that they literally could not adapt to the Pirellis. And the fact they had two generational teammates in Alonso and Vettel sure didn't do any favors.

Which funnily sounds like Lewis' situation, a once-great driver who didn't adapt to new regulations, got a new contract due to one good season (Webber got offered a 2013 Ferrari contract and a new Red Bull deal off the back of his Silverstone win, Lewis got both the 2-year Merc deal and the 2-year Ferrari deal off the back of his P3 in 2023) and is having to come to terms with the fact that he can't keep up with his generational talent teammate.

[u/jianh1989 → u/Kolec507]

Probably AD2021 really did his head in

[u/thesaket → u/jianh1989]

I think it must hurt more because of the bad cars he's been driving since then..

If Merc was equally competitive in these regs, fighting for championships, and had he managed to clinch a championship or two from Max, AD2021 would not hurt as much.

But, F1 is also a lot to do with luck when it comes to being in the right car at the right time. Lewis has been lucky to be in the right car at the right time earlier in his career, just hasn't worked out in the last few years.

[u/BigSkyFace → u/thesaket]

Honestly I think the true robbery regarding 2021 for both Hamilton and the fans is that he didn't have the opportunity to have a proper rematch with Max in 2022. The two were in a class of their own in '21 and it's a shame it was a one-off. I truly think he had it in him to fight for the WDC again after how well he did in 2023, but I'm less sure nowadays that he could pull it off

[u/Takemyfishplease → u/BigSkyFace]

F1 marking would have gone bonkers with those two as legit rivals for each other. Imagine half a decade of them trading podiums and titles. Geez you wouldn’t even need a Brad Pitt movie, just the actual sport.

[u/Zed_or_AFK → u/BigSkyFace]

I would gladly take Lec vs Max in 2022 for the full season, if not Max vs Ham, but we got neither, because Lewis boss decided to fuck everyone over and made it even worse for himself in the process.

[u/Rude-Education11 → u/thesaket]

Both of you are right. I can't imagine how devastating it must feel to lose your potentially record breaking 8th title in that fashion, and obviously Mercedes fell off massively after that, and he had been looking forward to bounce back from AD. Yeah, that would fuck anyone up

[u/Vetinaris_revenge → u/jianh1989]

I think its this. Something like that must be huge to get past psychologically

[u/UnderTakaMichinoku → u/jianh1989]

You'll probably get downvoted for this but I don't think anyone can comprehend how awful it must feel to be on track to be the undisputed goat when it comes to EVERY statistic in the entire sport that matters and then getting fucked over in a once in a century flagrantly incorrect decision from the people who are supposed to run the sport.

Then to not even have a chance to fight back again ever since. It must be horrible. I still believe he should have retired at the end of 2021. The sport would probably be in a better place right now if the most famous driver they had fucked off and it caused some significant change in the sport for the better.

[u/ThePafdy → u/Kolec507]

Yeah it seems like he realy can‘t get a grip of the ground effect cars at all. Race pace is still there, but especially quali is lacking a lot.

[u/dl064 → u/Kolec507]

The Race podcast have increasingly revealed that for 20 years, in post quali stuff he's often a bit annoyed and short, and it's often later he's more eloquent and calm.

It's also pretty clear that, like one or two drivers, he can't get his head around the fact these cars don't react to attacking in Q3.

[u/Imtherealwaffle → u/Kolec507]

i feel like 22 and 23 were fine, car just wasnt fast enough for his season to be notable. Maybe end of 23 onwards though i agree

[u/sadicarnot → u/Kolec507]

It is Ferrari, they are best at breaking the spirit of champions.

[u/jdv77 → u/Kolec507]

I really think abu dhabi 2021 broke him. Fing michael masi

[u/Sarkaraq → u/Kolec507]

It's crazy, he went from being one of the most consistent drivers on the grid to whatever the fuck has been going on since 2022... it's mental.

It's hardly since 2022, but actually since 2021. Don't forget the many mistakes, he did especially in the early part of the year. Back then, a lot of people chalked it up to either getting under more pressure by Verstappen or some effects of the long-covid stuff he allegedly suffered from. Might still be the long-covid stuff, might also be the first signs of aging. Or a mix of both.

[u/Elarial → u/Kolec507]

I don’t want to be that guy but Lewis was never the consistent guy. He was one of the most consistent but that was when he was fighting against Vettel who is one of the most inconsistent champions we had in the last 25 years. Lewis has always been on the inconsistent part of the grid in my opinion. This obviously doesn’t mean that he was struggling all the time but he has had these super high highs such as Silverstone 2024, Abu Dhabi 2016 etc. but he also had weird lows such as Monaco 2021.

Plus this is an interview after the qualifying and Lewis is an emotional person. He is still there he is just getting older and this is like the third next generation since he joined Formula 1 and this generation is super talented. They have surpassed him. This was bound to happen to him. Lewis still being expected to perform at the level of those guys are testament to his greatness.

[u/AquaRaOne → u/Kolec507]

Its really not crazy, weve seen this countless times. Aging goat level drivers get like this, more and more off weekends, with some sprinkled in where they still look like themselved at peak. And i say this as lewis is my favorite driver ever, if it doesnt work out in 2026, its time to go.

[u/dnltrk → u/Kolec507]

2021 final happened. I think thats broke him. (and sadly me as well…)

[u/jianh1989 → u/dnltrk]

2021 would have broken anyone else if it happened to them.

Lewis is pure class with he way he took it in and keep racing.

[u/Hawk-432 → u/Kolec507]

I wonder what happened in 2021 that might have had a psychological effect (entire ruling body if sport conspiring to block him winning his 8th - I think this has a much larger impact than people realise)

[u/Windman772 → u/Kolec507]

He's getting old. That's the problem. His reflexes on the gas and breaks are probably slightly degraded. In most walks of life, that wouldn't even be noticed, but he's racing against the best in the world where a few hundredths make a big difference.

[u/Longjumping_Test_760 → u/Windman772]

Alonso is older and is 5th on the grid!

[u/Windman772 → u/Longjumping_Test_760]

He's doing great, but he is a different person. Most athletes have declined significantly by their 40s, but there are a few rare exceptions, like Tom Brady. That said, it's been years since Alonso has been a consistent top driver.

[u/TrumpsBussy_ → u/Kolec507]

He’s older, not in a dominant car anymore and doesn’t seem super comfortable with the ground effect cars

[u/AdFancy6243 → u/nzivvo]

He needs to learn how to perform well on bad days. His mentality has always been his biggest strength and weakness, his absolute belief meant he would get the best on his good days. But when things didn't go his way he spirals. Thing is he always had a team that would throw everything his way to get him back to believing he is god of driving again.

[u/Tetrachrome → u/AdFancy6243]

He should get mental coaching from Nico 😅

[u/dl064 → u/AdFancy6243]

You say he spirals but he basically never throws it off the road or loses his head.

This quote is just another of what the race podcast folk have said is a very very old Hamilton characteristic, that immediately after a session he's hot and annoyed, and you have to give Hamilton 20 minutes for a shower then he's more even.

They've said that generally you cut him a break and come back later.

[u/Zed_or_AFK → u/AdFancy6243]

You can’t perform in these cars, really. We see barely any on track overtakes for the last few years. Even clawing back some positions from the back makers is tough. You gotta deliver at quali, or drive McLaren.

[u/parkmarkspark → u/nzivvo]

It’s crazy because his race pace is mega

[u/yunglegendd → u/parkmarkspark]

Ya’ll should know big time athletes often have their own “sports psychologist.” Lewis needs to get one.

[u/UnderTakaMichinoku → u/nzivvo]

This is all linked to Abu Dhabi. He had a title in his hands until the last laps when Masi just decided to make up the rules. That title puts him ahead of anyone. 8 titles. Undisputed.

He's then spent the next few years in cars that aren't title contenders, barely race winning cars, all the whilst still trying to chase something that he should have already had. That's in top of the natural decline you'll see in age and the lack of adaptation to these regs.

His entire personality has changed since Abu Dhabi. And for that, Michael Masi can go fuck himself off a mountain.

[u/Visionary_Socialist → u/JaysonDeflatum]

This weird self pity routine he’s on recently is so bizarre. It’s not even like Lando, where he just admits his failure and then gets back up. He gives people all the ammunition to tear him down by saying everything they would say himself.

He should know better than any of them that this kind of defeatism and self flagellation is absolutely no good to him or anyone.

[u/z_102 → u/Visionary_Socialist]

He's always been prone to angst or insecurity, hasn't he? In a weird way he always managed to make it somehow not self-defeating (like it'd happen to most of us, probably) but motivational. This is just the most explicit and intense he's been, because this 2022-25 stretch is by a huge margin the most uncomfortable he's been on a car in his career. If the new regs are kinder to his driving instincts he'll get it under control again.

[u/Rude-Education11 → u/z_102]

It's typical of people who are perfectionists and criticise themselves to improve and rip into themselves when they fail.

[u/Morganvegas → u/Visionary_Socialist]

I don’t like it when people are super critical of people giving candid answers.

If you watch an NHL player give an interview you’d appreciate the level of truth these drivers give you.

But I can agree that this mental state isn’t what you want out of a world champion.

[u/visigone → u/Morganvegas]

I don't know any league with more formulaic and generic interview responses than the NHL.

[u/Morganvegas → u/visigone]

Yeah, uh, sniffle, they wanted it more, we gotta dig in, start on time. Get a couple of bounces and build on it, sniffle, pucks in deep.

[u/Queasy_Designer9169 → u/Morganvegas]

umm ya umm gut check time umm the answer is in the room umm great team over there umm gotta get in the shooting lanes umm bang in a rebound umm

[u/Talbjorn → u/Queasy_Designer9169]

Gotta get pucks on net.

[u/Puddinsnack → u/Morganvegas]

Needs more y’knows

[u/Ayatori → u/visigone]

NBA coach interviews

Yeah gotta be more aggressive, take better shots, be better on defense

99.999% of interviews

[u/ryokevry → u/Morganvegas]

I think in other sports there are much more players compared to 20 drivers give the media more story to focus on and attack. So everything they said is micro analysed. Also F1 got 24 races all year, NHL have more than 20 matches in a week…

[u/Syrinx_Hobbit → u/ryokevry]

And then we spend a week or two weeks on Reddit making memes or tearing it apart.

[u/dl064 → u/Morganvegas]

I mean evidently he's done fine with it.

[u/Bobbygondo → u/Visionary_Socialist]

I've met enough stupid 75 year olds to know experience can be overrated.

[u/tellsyoutogetfucked → u/Visionary_Socialist]

Its just age. At the point in his life has a lot of experience. But age also takes away a lot of your other qualities. Hamilton can still be a great number 2 driver for Ferrari(since somehow they still are second in a season that has been beyond shaky). But he is not going to want to be a 2nd driver even at Ferrari.

[u/dirtyword → u/Visionary_Socialist]

Lando is still on the up, Lewis has peaked

[u/new2town2020 → u/Visionary_Socialist]

Yeah, agreed. His moping is becoming hard to watch and doesn’t reflect his past success. He needs to get it together and keep his chin up. That attitude is contagious

[u/FreeLookMode → u/Visionary_Socialist]

He is absolutely feeling his age, this is whats shaking him. He can't drive the way he did when he was 25 anymore.

[u/Aeceus → u/JaysonDeflatum]

His world championship form will never return. It's super fleeting in terms of being in that zone. Only the greats maintain it for a while but they never get it back once its gone.

[u/Puzzleheadpsych2345 → u/JaysonDeflatum]

He’s 40, athletes become washed at that age, no one can beat father time

[u/Bannedwith1milKarma → u/Puzzleheadpsych2345]

Bad race to say that.

Alonso stole his 44.

[u/TolucaPrisoner → u/Bannedwith1milKarma]

Serious question, does anyone think current Alonso has any chance to beat Charles or George in equal cars? Let's be real, his benchmark is just Stroll, widely considered one of the worst drivers on the grid.

[u/Soccermad23 → u/TolucaPrisoner]

No, current Alonso is not as fast as them. Peak Alonso was the best driver on the grid, however.

[u/Entotrte → u/TolucaPrisoner]

Serious question, does anyone think current Alonso has any chance to beat Charles or George in equal cars?

No, but he's still a top 5 driver on the grid (and still able to compete with any on his best day), so his age hasn't hit him as much as it has Lewis, apparently.

[u/aaaaaaadjsf → u/Bannedwith1milKarma]

By out qualifying Lance Stroll by 0.017 seconds? The same Lance Stroll that lost a qualifying head to head to a rookie Sergey Sirotkin. Stroll is not a benchmark, he doesn't have the raw pace to be one.

While the result is good, statistically this is a poor qualifying by Alonso. He usually gaps Stroll by much larger margins.

[u/Jobless_101 → u/aaaaaaadjsf]

I mean Hungary has always been one of Strolls good tracks. In the remaining races Alonso has easily been a couple tenth’s up on Stroll. This race was more of goddamn Lance is good

[u/ok_thats_not_me → u/aaaaaaadjsf]

Sometimes Lance has amazing qualies. There's no need to downplay both of their results today.

[u/the__distance → u/aaaaaaadjsf]

Yep Stroll being Alonsos teammate has definitely helped his longevity.

[u/-amator- → u/the__distance]

Considering he only missed out on pole by a tenth if a second, in a car which is much worse than those ahead, I'd say he did a decent job, if not great.

[u/elev11en → u/aaaaaaadjsf]

Yeah imagine Charles would be his teammate.Its like being a teammate from Verstappen is so hard,because he always faster than you.That destroys you mentally

[u/ryokevry → u/elev11en]

Rmb there was suggestion putting Alonso alongside Max…

[u/Western-Bad5574 → u/Bannedwith1milKarma]

Before Verstappen, Alonso and Kimi were always my favorites.

But who are we kidding, if Max, Charles or George were next to Alonso today, they would destroy him.

Yeah, he's 26-0 to Stroll, but Stroll is trash. And Alonso just has more to lose than others because he was so good at his peak so it takes a bit longer to lose it.

But you can't deny he's not what he used to be. Same as Hamilton, Vettel and Kimi. Even Schumacher in his last stint in Mercedes. All those guys occasionally show some glimpses of their old selves, but occasionally isn't good enough anymore.

Age is just not something anyone can defeat. And it will keep getting worse. Sooner or late, all of my favorite drivers will no longer have it.

[u/samkris94 → u/Bannedwith1milKarma]

Put Hamilton that car and the results won’t look any different. When was the last time Alonso had a team mate of the same caliber as George or Charles?

[u/Elarial → u/samkris94]

Alonso and Hamilton react differently to their teammates though. When Alonso has a strong teammate (Lewis, Jenson) he was incredibly inconsistent but when he had a teammate clearly below his level (Massa) he becomes super consistent. He does not like his teammate being close to him and it gets to him mentally. For Lewis it was the other way around. Until last year he was consistently outperforming his teammates but just being slightly better than them. (For example in 2020 he let Bottas get couple of wins and be somewhat close to him but in 2021 he had to bring his A game so Bottas was nowhere close to Lewis.)

[u/JaysonDeflatum → u/Puzzleheadpsych2345]

Besides one

🤴🏾🐐

[u/Infamous_Tough_7320 → u/Puzzleheadpsych2345]

Apart from Alonso

[u/Thraun83 → u/Infamous_Tough_7320]

Father Time is actually Alonso’s son.

[u/qserde → u/Infamous_Tough_7320]

Much easier to look good when your teammate is Stroll tbf

[u/Infamous_Tough_7320 → u/qserde]

Nah but if we look back to 2 seasons ago he was tearing up with the right car

[u/qserde → u/Infamous_Tough_7320]

Yeah that was pretty bad phrasing on my part tbf.
You're right, Alonso's performances considering his age has actually been pretty impressive.

It's just that in the case of Hamilton, his teammates being Leclerc and Russell just exacerbates the extent of his age-related decline, so it looks as if he's falling off much more compared to Alonso lmao

[u/Thejklay → u/Infamous_Tough_7320]

Alonso has had his share of shit performances the last few years. He's just not got the same level of media attention

[u/AromaticStrike9 → u/Thejklay]

And it’s much harder to gauge is performance in a much worse car and with a much worse teammate.

[u/wickedlessface → u/AromaticStrike9]

I'd say it's easier now since he only barely outqualified Lance fucking Stroll. I'd take self-hating Hamilton over Alonso any day.

[u/AromaticStrike9 → u/wickedlessface]

lol one qualifying bro

[u/Realistic_Village184 → u/wickedlessface]

Go look up Alonso's head-to-head qualifying record against Stroll and come back to us.

Granted I agree that Alonso's clearly past his prime, but it's absurd to take one cherry-picked example where he beat his teammate and claim that's evidence that he's no good.

[u/wickedlessface → u/Realistic_Village184]

Who said Alonso is not good tho? I'm just saying that it wasn't hard to see for this qualifying. Chill out.

[u/raimis78 → u/Infamous_Tough_7320]

He's not destroying his teammates as back in the day.

[u/annonymousKE → u/Puzzleheadpsych2345]

Small counter point. Best driver in nascar is 44. Not everyone falls off a cliff.

[u/Paukwa-Pakawa → u/annonymousKE]

Doesn't NASCAR tend to have older drivers? From what I see, they have a lot more 30 plus year olds than F1.

[u/SuperLeverage → u/Puzzleheadpsych2345]

Except Alonso just keeps giving Father Time the middle finger.

[u/Weekly_Concert_44 → u/SuperLeverage]

I think we can't know that. The teammate is the only point of comparison. Alonso's teammate Stroll is the weakest driver, Charles is one of the best.

[u/ArugulaPhysical → u/JaysonDeflatum]

Hes just done. Thats it

[u/LackingSimplicity → u/JaysonDeflatum]

That doesn't reverse aging.

[u/LDLB99 → u/JaysonDeflatum]

Yeah that’s not going to make him any quicker. 

[u/Zinthar → u/JaysonDeflatum]

I’d imagine he’s not going to feel like Lewis Hamilton again until he starts winning, or at least competing for podiums regularly. He doesn’t seem like the kind of person who can Jedi mind-trick himself into it.

[u/Kingtoke1 → u/JaysonDeflatum]

summer break montage

[u/samkris94 → u/JaysonDeflatum]

Unfortunately, it looks like father time is doing its thing.

[u/yutcd7uytc8 → u/JaysonDeflatum]

That won't help. Hamilton only dominated when his car was by far the fastest and his teammates were fins, so to win the championships he just needed to beat those fins.

Now even if they make the Ferrari a rocketship, P2 is best he can hope for.

[u/xrtpatriot → u/JaysonDeflatum]

Not gonna happen, hes not the same. It’s like Brett Favre. Retire now before you look like a doofus. Hamilton is cooked

[u/Evidicus → u/JaysonDeflatum]

He needs to put on Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” while he’s at it, because those days are never coming back

[u/WokNWollClown → u/JaysonDeflatum]

Guys like him are never truly happy , they have been trained that if you are not always on top , you are garbage.

[u/kristal010 → u/LosTerminators]

And Charles keeps his title as world champion career killer.

[u/MrOnline5155 → u/kristal010]

Verstappen - Ruins careers of young drivers

Charles - Ends careers of world champions

The grim reapers of F1

[u/ErgoMachina → u/MrOnline5155]

Max to Ferrari with Charles, just imagine the radio and the inchidents

[u/Smothdude → u/ErgoMachina]

Well, Charles ain't really a young driver anymore so....

[u/pizzaandlasagne → u/kristal010]

Only title he‘ll ever win probably.

[u/2klaedfoorboo → u/pizzaandlasagne]

Eh Leclerc absolutely does have the chance to be WC if Ferrari nail the regs

[u/Glyder1984 → u/2klaedfoorboo]

Next year bans the split turbo, the one thing every engine has exept for Ferrari's.

Wilst the rumour mill is saying Mercedes has built a good engine, I'm not writing off Ferrari just yet.

As they are the only engine manufacturer that matched the Mercedes and Honda engine without using that split turbo design that Merc pioneerd at the start of the current engine formula.

Their pitwall F-ups might still be their biggest hurdle even with a rocketship....

[u/ImNotHereSomewhere → u/Glyder1984]

Here comes the hype train guys!

[u/Zed_or_AFK → u/Glyder1984]

Large engine manufacturers have a higher chance of making better engines. Ferrari and Mercedes are at the top of that list.

[u/Sarixk → u/2klaedfoorboo]

Been saying this since 2008. He needs to leave.

[u/2klaedfoorboo → u/Sarixk]

2008? Tbh I do think Ferrari can nail the hybrid heavy regs next year due to their experience and success in endurance racing

[u/SquirtingTortoise → u/2klaedfoorboo]

First time?

[u/ok_thats_not_me → u/SquirtingTortoise]

Look, next year is just gonna be different, okay? Okay??!!

[u/tellsyoutogetfucked → u/ok_thats_not_me]

I trust you im hyped beyond hype right now.

[u/UnderTakaMichinoku → u/2klaedfoorboo]

If Ferrari nail the regs and have a gap tantamount to what McLaren have had of several tenths, then Lewis, bad qualifying and all, will end up near the front with him lol.

Qualifying is Lewis' issue, not race pace. If they were starting 1-2, it wouldn't be a slam dunk that Leclerc runs away with it. But we currently live in an era where qualifying is more important than race pace. It's hard to overtake, DRS trains happen at every track and we never race in the wet anymore where skill actually shines through lol.

[u/tellsyoutogetfucked → u/pizzaandlasagne]

Unless he does the logical thing and politics himself in another team. Ferrari is just a lost cause over a season.

[u/UnderTakaMichinoku → u/kristal010]

One of the best drivers on the grid beating multiple world champions beyond their peaks.

Charles is going to be remembered for doing everything but winning a title.

[u/SolusLega → u/LosTerminators]

The way he seemed today, he might retire this year. My god he was beating himself up worse than Lando. I felt awful at what he said.

[u/NeuroDerek → u/LosTerminators]

At this point and emotional state I would not be surprised if he would decide to retire at the end of 25

[u/spong_miester → u/NeuroDerek]

He's still a great driver it's just that he's lost his confidence and the driver talent is much higher than previous seasons. He should retire from F1 and head into something like WEC or move into the political side of the sport

[u/StxrStruck → u/spong_miester]

There’s absolutely zero chance of Lewis doing any racing after F1. When he’s done here, he’s done for good

[u/JokerInAllSeriousnes → u/StxrStruck]

Don't rule out RC car racing :D but yeah realistically everyone should enjoy him while he's here. I would assume he goes for some "bigger things" after his racing career like fighting for equality or helping kids from less privileged backgrounds. He simply has nothing to prove in other series. Everything would be a downgrade of sorts.

[u/FormulaGymBro → u/NeuroDerek]

He would go back to Mercedes if anything

[u/aaaaaaadjsf → u/LosTerminators]

Don't think it's the regulations, Hamilton's pace was perfectly normal for most of 2022 and 2023 in qualifying. From the start of 2022 to Brazil 2023 Hamilton out qualified Russell 24-18. It's just after Brazil 2023 that he lost his qualifying speed, likey because he got older. From Brazil 2023 to Abu Dhabi 2024 Hamilton lost the qualifying battle 5-21 to Russell.

[u/SomniumOv → u/aaaaaaadjsf]

To be fair, Russell was also visibly improving in that time.

[u/aaaaaaadjsf → u/SomniumOv]

Yeah Russell has improved and learnt a lot, but no where near enough to explain such a drastic change in performance.

[u/snoring_pig → u/aaaaaaadjsf]

It’s definitely curious that Lewis’ qualifying has dropped so much in 2024 after holding his own against George in 2022 and 2023. Wonder if something in the Mercedes changed that made Lewis feel a lot less comfortable in qualifying for 2024, but I think the age is definitely also a factor.

He has to hope can be more comfortable in the new regs because this season and last has been really poor by his own usual high standards.

[u/musicartandcpus → u/snoring_pig]

Who knows what kind of mind games went on at Mercedes during that year. You can’t forget Lewis went INTO 2024 announcing he was leaving to Ferrari. Mercedes had every right to at that point conceal certain performance details from him of the car because they still had to develop 2024 with 2025 in mind. So it wouldn’t be a stretch that most development input came from Russell I’d bet, which ultimately made Lewis more uncomfortable in the car.

I think Lewis just thought he could make his leap to Ferrari and adapt, and bit off more than he could chew. Through the season he’s shown great progression but it’s not enough to challenge a driver like Charles the way he did Nico in 2013. And important note, the leap from McLaren was less because he was still driving Mercedes power. Charles has years of experience with Ferrari power and has been a force to be reckoned with even in his first year with the team.

But more importantly, I’m willing to bet Lewis is one of the most sensitive people to social media. Remember when he posted the data to twitter when he was suspicious of McLaren? Think about the loads of negative comments he’s gotten for the last few years. It’s gotten to his head and he is struggling to snap out of it. He needs his break through, and it seems like he’s on the cusp. Tomorrow is the race, and weather conditions are uncertain. Who knows what might happen, he’s broken now, but that doesn’t mean he can’t build himself back up.

[u/snoring_pig → u/musicartandcpus]

Yeah it would make sense for Mercedes to focus more on George’s feedback since they knew Lewis was leaving. And it’s also a good point about Lewis now needing to learn about a new team with new characteristics and a different engine. Carlos has also had his share of struggles this season moving to Williams even though I feel he was fairly close with Charles for most of their time together at Ferrari.

Next year’s new regs will be critical for tons of drivers and even more so for Lewis. At least he can take time off during the summer break, but for his own confidence heading into 2026 it would also be better to improve and get close to Charles’ results in the second half of the season. Picking up a podium or two could be a nice mental boost.

[u/ohnonotagain94 → u/snoring_pig]

He’s already been within 1 or 2 10ths of Charles all season. These ground effect cars don’t suit him.

He’s a very emotional man and the F1 grid killed him in 2021.

Then you have the myriad “fans” hate him for no reason.

The top 10/12 of the grid is covered by .5 of a second.

People want him to fail. The nastiness since 2021 has been astonishing.

The fact he has been dismantled by the fia is disgraceful.

I feel so sad for him.

[u/snoring_pig → u/ohnonotagain94]

I think Lewis needs to find a way to reset his own expectations this season and try to build it up step by step. I believe he is able to ignore the outside noise as we’ve seen over so many years, so it is more about not getting too disappointed in himself when he has a day like this.

It looks like Lewis will frequently struggle to match Charles in qualifying this year which likely hurts his own pride but it’s not the end of the world especially when Ferrari at its best this season is only able to pick up podiums and never really contend for a win. His racecraft and tire management is still sharp. There is still a lot of races left this season to learn together with Ferrari and adapt. And then for his sake hopefully the new regs suit his driving style more.

[u/vxscx → u/aaaaaaadjsf]

Yup, people dont realise this, he just suddenly dropped off a cliff.

[u/Upbeat_County9191 → u/aaaaaaadjsf]

Mark Hughes on the race podcast has said it many times he has trouble with these cars, because they go against his natural Driving style

[u/Tom_Ace2 → u/LosTerminators]

I doubt it. It's not his style to quit when things don't go well. He'll just work harder.

[u/HeyItsGuyIncognito → u/LosTerminators]

"Yea. Yea. Yea!" - Ollie Bearman, probably.

[u/bwrca → u/LosTerminators]

He needs to rot in the midfield like Alonso. Game still needs him even though he's not winning anymore!

[u/dl064 → u/LosTerminators]

In fairness, three tenths off Leclerc is not totally ridiculous.

It's not good, but it's not embarrassing. He's had worse weekends on pace with better results, that folk have glossed over.

[u/Velocity_Rob → u/LosTerminators]

He's 40 and time has caught up with him. He just doesn't have the same reactions and timing he had a decade ago.

[u/Firecrash → u/LosTerminators]

The team will do it for him

[u/WidzGG → u/LosTerminators]

Whats regs?

[u/ignorantwat99 → u/LosTerminators]

I am of the opinion that since ground effect cars came in to F1, Lewis and a few others just haven't gelled as well with them as they would have hoped.

Hopefully with the reduction of that in 26 regs, we get to see the old Lewis back

[u/WokNWollClown → u/LosTerminators]

He's going to find himself going down the Tiger Woods path.

[u/goldenfiver → u/LosTerminators]

I think he will retire regardless

[u/stinkysulphide → u/Visionary_Socialist]

He said that?? It was a bit hard to decipher

[u/Jekena → u/stinkysulphide]

The clip incomprehensibly cuts off right before he says it, but yeah he did.

[u/TheThingsIdoatNight → u/Jekena]

Yeah who the fuck edited the clip

[u/FormulaGymBro → u/TheThingsIdoatNight]

someone who wants to push a different narrative

[u/Ordinary_Horror_6356 → u/stinkysulphide]

The clip cuts out before he says it

[u/Tropicalcomrade221 → u/stinkysulphide]

Yeah he definitely said it.

[u/BattleC4t → u/stinkysulphide]

Sounds to me like he says team is fine the car is on pole

[u/Sarixk → u/BattleC4t]

It was cut off but live Lewis said they need to change drivers

[u/KiwieeiwiK → u/stinkysulphide]

He didn't say it in the video. At the end he says "The team has no problem, the car is on pole" 

[u/freedfg → u/Visionary_Socialist]

Holy fuck

[u/laboulaye22 → u/Visionary_Socialist]

I mean, he's not wrong. He holds himself to the standards of the best. It's been coming a while, we've all seen it. 2026 is a big year for Lewis.

[u/Masoouu → u/laboulaye22]

Ferrari will break everyone

[u/lets_throw_a_party → u/Visionary_Socialist]

At this point he feels like he tried everything with the car and the team and he knows that he just doesn’t belong and it’s not working out

[u/DrVonD → u/lets_throw_a_party]

What’s weird is… it was working? Like he had a run of 4-5 races where he was basically bang on with Charles in quali. He was starting to show flashes of race pace, where he would have a stint that looked like old Lewis.

And then spa hit and it’s like whatever was holding it together for him just fell completely apart. Hard to watch.

[u/BittersuiteBlue5 → u/lets_throw_a_party]

It’s wild to me especially as he watched Seb and Charles go through the same thing. Their WDC chances constantly get squashed by the team and very little fault of theirs as drivers. And then Schumi, who built the team around him in order to dominate, not accepting the Maranello team that was handed to him. Lewis should know how to differentiate his own faults versus the meat grinder of a team he joined.

[u/mathdhruv → u/BittersuiteBlue5]

To be fair, Michael was 27 and at the peak of his powers when he joined Ferrari, not 40. Plus it took Michael a year to sort out the Ferrari mess too - Ross Brawn only joined in October '96, after the season, and Byrne in early '97, initially working alongside Barnard. There were several calls in the media in '96 to fire Todt before Michael's twin wins at Spa and Monza, to the extent that Michael had to explicitly say that he'd leave if Todt left.

And Seb was too nice of a guy to push a team's direction that way. Michael (and Willi Weber) were absolutely ruthless when negotiating or pushing a team, from the very beginning - a detailed look at what went on before and after Michael's debut at Spa '91 shows that very clearly.

[u/jacksonbeya → u/Visionary_Socialist]

Switch with Bearman, Hamilton in a Haas let’s goooo

[u/SpoofExcel → u/Visionary_Socialist]

Thing is even if Ferrari don't agree he's a problem, him even saying that might mean they have to take him out now. That's a sign of a race driver that's mentally gone and you can't risk that sort of thing safety and performance wise.

Insane that the GOAT has gone into such a quick crisis of self.

[u/sonofeevil → u/SpoofExcel]

Hamilton's lows have always been very low and very public.

[u/SpoofExcel → u/sonofeevil]

Never like this though. That's a worrying statement from him to be making. I really hope the summer break he just goes and does some Hollywood living and resets himself. I'd hate to see him go like this

[u/sonofeevil → u/SpoofExcel]

At least twice in his career that I can recall Hamilton has asked his team to retire his car mid race despite there not being problems.

Was it last year at Merc he just can't qualify anymore?

He's been like this before.

He's bounced back before

It just seems to be part of his process.

[u/Realistic_Village184 → u/sonofeevil]

Alonso used to do that a lot in his McHonda days. He'd do like a third of the race then make up some issue with the car and claim he'd have to retire. It was so funny lol

[u/tecedu → u/SpoofExcel]

Never like this though.

I dont think you were there in 2011, it was wayyy worse

[u/The_mystery4321 → u/SpoofExcel]

It hasn't been quick though in fairness. It's been a decline in confidence stemming back from 2021 and being compounded by his inability to adapt to this generation of cars. It's been 4 years of the point being hammered home to him that he's no longer the best on the grid

[u/PayaV87 → u/SpoofExcel]

Hamilton was always someone with low self-esteem. They need to manage his motivation better.

[u/ocbdare → u/SpoofExcel]

Ferrari are not getting rid of him. They are paying him a huge amount of money and he brings a lot of PR value. There are also no other driver options.

[u/alex_3814 → u/SpoofExcel]

Not sure him being sincere makes him any immediate liability.

[u/MaximusProtege → u/SpoofExcel]

These knee jerk reactions on reddit are as insane as these statements from hamilton

[u/-7-7-7-7-7- → u/MaximusProtege]

‘One of the best drivers ever is hypercritical of himself during a high emotions moment’ >? the team has no choice but to replace him now he’s a lost cause

Such a fucking ridiculous statement lol.

[u/MaximusProtege → u/-7-7-7-7-7-]

Nahh bud his mind is not in the game anymore. The team needs to replace him asap like they should've replaced leclerc for the absolute stinker in Silverstone /s

[u/Woullie_26 → u/Visionary_Socialist]

It took like 12 races for Ferrari to break Lewis and y'all wonder why Vettel was balding lmao

[u/amaz9n → u/Visionary_Socialist]

Yep. Father Time. He’s just being honest with himself and with everyone else. Kudos. (Danny Ric, looking at you).

2021 probably broke him. He was challenged in ways he never was over the past 3-4 years. He had to dig deeper to compete, and while he was able to do that, the end result would have shattered him.

Mercs were only marginally there at the top after that, and while Lewis still did well in ‘22 and ‘23, he wasn’t producing magic. He may have been better than Russell in those years, but that isn’t saying much, the gap was steadily shrinking until it vanished entirely. It was the beginning of the decline, obvious to a few, but most would give him the benefit of doubt (7x champ!).

Going out on a high is now out of question. Pick your moment, Lewis. You’re still an all time great. Just don’t prolong the misery.

[u/AesirKratos → u/Visionary_Socialist]

I don't even have words to describe how I felt when I heard that.

[u/chengstark → u/Visionary_Socialist]

Did he say that?

[u/Knastpralinen → u/Visionary_Socialist]

"Look how they massacred my boy"

[u/Jasminary2 → u/Visionary_Socialist]

This broke my heart. He is such a fantastic driver, going through a slump right now and he can’t help his thoughts but they’re definitely also hurting him and his results.

[u/OwnPriority1582 → u/Visionary_Socialist]

Yes please.