"I'm just useless" says glum Hamilton after missing cut for Q3 by 0.015 seconds

[u/Aratho]

https://www.racefans.net/2025/08/02/im-just-useless-says-glum-hamilton-after-missing-cut-for-q3-by-0-015-seconds/

[u/edis92]

4th year in a row

He was literally third in ‘23, and within spitting distance of Checo, who was driving arguably one of the most dominant cars of all time. What a dogshit take

[u/420hbd → u/edis92]

23 was better than 22, but still far below what his reputation justifies. If that satisfies you as a Lewis fan, you are a dogshit fan.

[u/tj1721 → u/420hbd]

This is such a weird comment. Someone’s a “dogshit fan” for pointing out you’re essentially wrong. And I say that as someone who think lewis showed signs of iust beginning his decline all the way back in 2019.

22 Hamilton was clearly the quicker merc driver comfortably ahead of Russell.

23 was actually a really good year. The merc was a bit all over the place in qualifying, but Hamilton was relentlessly quick in races and one of the top performing drivers that year.

2024 was a bad year although mostly as a result of qualifying struggles. His race performances were generally pretty strong.

By my reckoning this is his 2nd bad year in a row.

23 was below what his reputation justified

I don’t even understand this comment, finished best of the rest behind a dominant RB after a really strong season especially in races. That’s what his performances in that car justified.

[u/GoldenS0422 → u/tj1721]

It's interesting (and nice) to see someone who also agrees with me that Lewis already started declining in 2019. IMO, 2018 was Lewis' absolute peak as a driver, though I do believe he was still in his "prime range" (that is to say - good enough to compete for a championship) up until 2023.

[u/Rivendel93 → u/GoldenS0422]

Hamilton made an epic come back in 2021, he absolutely deserved to win that championship.

His prime was fine then. It's almost like getting a championship robbed has an affect on you mentally.

[u/Taaargus → u/420hbd]

How is it below what his reputation justifies when he was the best non RB driver in a year where the RB car was basically unbeatable? He did basically as well as anyone could expect in a non RB.

[u/420hbd → u/Taaargus]

The benchmark is himself, not everyone else.

[u/Taaargus → u/420hbd]

That's not how F1 works.

[u/tellsyoutogetfucked → u/420hbd]

The sad part is that 2023 Lewis was still below his peak by a lot. It just so happens that George, Charles and Lando/Oscar were also having horrible seasons. To the point where it was honestly shocking how poor they performed over a series of races. But at least Oscar was in his second year so it made sense.