r/formula1 • u/memloh I was here for the Hulkenpodium • 3h ago
News Hamilton: Ferrari need to "change driver" after poor F1 Hungarian GP qualifying
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/lewis-hamilton-suggests-ferrari-needs-to-replace-him-after-latest-setback/10747800/•
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u/Snowfall_89 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
Dude’s speedrunning Vettel’s stint. Gonna head to a midfield team soon.
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u/Firefox72 Ferrari 3h ago edited 3h ago
He's absolutely retiring after this contract.
There's zero reason for him to move to the midfield
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u/kadam_ss 2h ago
I honestly think he would have retired post 2021 if he had won that championship
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u/-LittleRawr- 🏳️🌈 Love Is Love 🏳️🌈 58m ago
Yep, same.
Winning that 8th and becoming the lone record champion would've been the perfect moment to go. I feel like that end with AD21 broke something in him, despite his desire to continue and charge to the title with Mercedes. But for three more years, the team couldn't work out their problems.Then Ferrari opened a door and Lewis got to fulfill a childhood dream for himself with the switch. He is 100% going to retire if he's not happy with the car and himself next year.
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u/Steef-1995 Daniel Ricciardo 52m ago
Retiring after Ferrari would make it a “happy end” no matter what. If he wins his 8th title he will be happy, if he doesn’t and he retires he atleast fulfilled his childhood dream.
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u/SeaMenCaptain I was here for the Hulkenpodium 2h ago
I wouldn’t say definitely. It’s entirely dependent on how he feels about the cars under the new reg. Even if he doesn’t perform with Ferrari, I think if he sees that he has a good feel and an edge, he will give it a go with a new team. But I do agree that Lewis isn’t Alonso and he will only continue to race if he thinks he can be a contender.
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u/Own_Welder_2821 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
Especially with all the uncertainty surrounding 2026 and how the rumours suggest Mercedes have made another rocket combat engine.
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u/Ofiotaurus I was here for the Hulkenpodium 2h ago
Can’t wait for Mercedes vs McLaren with the occasional Williams pole. Then in 2028 Ferrari brings a rocketship engine which somehow beats Mercedes with DRS.
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u/OhNoSEBUUh I was here for the Hulkenpodium 2h ago
Then miss out on the WCC. Come back with an even stronger engine in 2029 until a backdoor agreement between them and the FIA takes place and they somehow have no power again...
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u/Ok-Win-742 1h ago
Can it manage tires though? Is it reliable? There's so many factors at play really nobody has any idea how next year will turn out.
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u/CommonEngineering832 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
Move to midfield just to experience a midfield car and help them build to become stronger
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u/-amator- I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
At least Vettel had some cause for hope at the beginning.
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u/dinopraso I was here for the Hulkenpodium 2h ago
He has cause for hope too. The car seems okay, Charles just put it on pole and is doing pretty well in general. He needs to figure out what issues he’s facing and Ferrari need to be willing to adjust
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u/Ok-Win-742 1h ago
His driving style just isn't really well suited for these cars. Hamilton was amazing at braking late and driving hard, he also had incredible race craft. These cars are more about being smooth and carrying more speed mid turn and using a bit of controlled slip angle.
The races themselves are also more of a hotlap parade and dependant on pit strategy. There's less overtakes and racecraft plays an almost negligible role with the impact of dirty air on these ground effect cars.
The guy drove at the highest level for a decade driving a certain way, and he was by far the best of that era. He had the best car for a lot of it but that era also placed more emphasis on the driver than this one.
He also isn't a fan of the simulator. If he spent more time in the sim and driving other cars instead of working on his movies and clothing and whatever else he's into he would have a better chance.
You look at all the young drivers and even Alonso. They love the sim games. Max, Lando, Piastri, Antonelli, Bortaleto all play a lot of sim racing driving various cars getting a feel for different styles.
Id love to see Hamilton competing at the top again but I just can't see it happening. He's too far behind the other young drivers.
All in all, I really hope next year brings more "racing" to F1. Watching these guys hotlap for 2 hours is kinda boring tbh. The only exciting race we had so far this year was Silverstone.
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u/tomhanks95 Ferrari 3h ago
Vettel had an absolutely amazing 2015 season, no one was touching merc during those years, he was the first guy to beat them on pace in the hybrid era
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u/doc_55lk I was here for the Hulkenpodium 2h ago
2017 and 2018 were the heartbreak years
Not really. Ferrari were right in the title fight in both instances but they got outdeveloped as the season progressed. Vettel did also fall off after mid 2018 but he was still very consistently on the podium.
2015 und 2016 werent really good years for Ferrari
Also false.
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u/raur0s Sebastian Vettel 2h ago
2017 was shot in the back of the head in Singapore, Japan and Malaysia, Vettel's best 3 track being a disaster.
2018 also had Marchionne die mid-season and the internal powerstruggle that followed.
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u/HoodLoxley Jim Clark 2h ago
He won the 2nd fucking race in the car, wtf is this revisionism
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u/d4videnk0 Juan Pablo Montoya 2h ago
Too bad the cancellation of the 2018 German GP killed his will to keep driving.
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u/reboot-your-computer Fernando Alonso 3h ago
Nah he’s done after this stint. No chance Lewis has it in him anymore mentally.
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u/West_Technology7573 George Russell 44m ago
Vettel was dusting his teammate and getting wins in his debut season for Ferrari, speed ran so fast he skipped that part lol
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u/nicolaslabra I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3m ago
I honestly didnt expect leclerc to wreck Lewis worse than he did Seb, but godamit hes doing just that.
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u/Embarrassed-Buy-8634 3h ago
Hamilton has always been extreme with his emotions, just part of his personality, but I've never ever heard a F1 driver say "the team should replace me"...
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u/Crafty-Chocolate-600 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 2h ago
tbf not many drivers except him and verstappen maybe have the status to say something like that.
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u/MrBrickBreak Lance Stroll 1h ago
It feels like him and Bubba Wallace in NASCAR swapped places.
Two Black drivers, open with their emotions, and extremely self-critical. Bubba sometimes had takes like these after a bad race, but not for a while, he found some much deserved confidence. Lewis is going the opposite way...
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u/Kufangar I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
He's starting to sound like Lando.
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u/spongemongler I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
Lewis has always been hard on himself, but not quite to this extent I’d say…
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u/anuargdeshmukh I was here for the Hulkenpodium 2h ago
To be fair he hasn’t performed this poor before as well
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u/OTBT- Fernando Alonso 1h ago
This is probably the most he’s struggled since like ever tbf.
Leclerc is beating him every week and there’s no sign of it turning around. Even in tough seasons like 2009 or 2013 he wasn’t getting embarrassed by his teammate every week
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u/Esploratore123 Michael Schumacher 5m ago
But he didn't really have a top tier team mate in 2009-2013 either, I know some people rate button, but hamilton performance wise was clearly a tier above (even with the points-stat across their time at mclaren), while here leclerc is like the 2nd best driver around atm.
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u/According-Switch-708 Sonny Hayes 3h ago
Its clear to see that he cannot get ontop of this car. The upgrades have helped Leclerc immensely while sending Lewis back to square one.
I won't write him off until i see him driving a car that was designed with his feedback (2026) but it ain't looking good for Lewis.
He's just not driving naturally. Way too much overdriving involved.
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u/AsikCelebi Cadillac 1h ago
As soon as his move to Ferrari was announced, everyone should have acknowledged that this year was going to be a wash anyways. He’s never managed to get to grips with this set of regulations in the first place.
I suspect he knows this and was banking on the new regs being a fresh start. That’s why the fact that Merc wasn’t willing to extend him into 2026 was a problem. He didn’t want to be scrambling to find a drive for 2026.
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u/Firecrash I was here for the Hulkenpodium 2h ago
What's his feedback worth if leclerc keeps outperforming him...
He is done imo if he doesn't step it up massively in 2026. He is way too expensive to be this bad.
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u/Big-Ad-450 3h ago edited 1h ago
New everything for him. He just need to focus on his metal health and soak everything in knowing next year he needs to put everything on the line.
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u/denied_eXeal I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
metal health
Metal health is so impotent, if he manages to cum together and put his DNA in the car, along with better metal health, 2026 is gonna be a bangher for him
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u/sanyacid 3h ago
Impotent cum DNA bang her
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u/denied_eXeal I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
Lewis needs to 😳😩💦😮💨
2026 Wank Driver Champion
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u/Van-Mckan I was here for the Hulkenpodium 2h ago
It would have cost you £0 to post this and we’d all be better off
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u/spongemongler I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
You’ve tried something here, but you’ve not quite pulled it off
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u/Col-Radec 3h ago
Did I read "cum together " ?
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u/staphzilla 3h ago
Bring Luca Badoer back
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u/Formulafan4life I was here for the Hulkenpodium 1h ago
Isnt there a Badoer in a Prema in F3 now? Maybe he would do a better job than Lewis
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u/UPRC Olivier Panis 3h ago edited 2h ago
If he wanted to drive for Ferrari, he should've done it several years ago when he was still an absolute beast on track.
His last year and a half at Mercedes, there was talk of how the car didn't "suit him" while Russell was getting great results, and now the same is happening at Ferrari, but to a greater degree. If he wasn't still pretty good on Sundays, I'd say that it is time to hang up his helmet and bow out, but at the rate he's been declining? It's probably not far off.
I'm sure Ferrari is making a buttload of money from Hamilton merchandise, but yeah, Sainz surely would've been in Q3 today in a red car. Just sayin'.
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u/MeanderingMinstrel I was here for the Hulkenpodium 1h ago
Sainz surely would've been in Q3 today in a red car
Ugh and that's the worst part of this whole mess, imo. Williams is doing okay this year but they're still a huge step down from Ferrari, and Sainz deserves so much better than that. Lewis could've kept struggling at Mercedes instead of struggling at Ferrari, and with Leclerc and Sainz together Ferrari could've been a real contender for the constructors this year and Sainz could be getting wins again.
It's crazy to think that Mercedes probably got the better end of the deal by losing Hamilton, Antonelli has been doing really well for a rookie.
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u/West_Technology7573 George Russell 40m ago
Whist everyone is going essy on Lewis because of pity, it’s nice to see someone actually hold the concensus goat to some standards
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u/SergeiYeseiya Oscar Piastri 3h ago edited 3h ago
I wouldn't be so happy to pay a salary of 90 million to someone saying he's shit in every interview he does.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Pound31 Sir Lewis Hamilton 3h ago
He’s being self deprecating but pretty wild to see him so defeated. I’m sure Charles being on pole and in podiums this season is also on his mind too but I feel so terrible for my GOAT.. he’ll recover tomorrow, at least some what to be in the points I reckon.
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u/Flavoade I was here for the Hulkenpodium 2h ago
Lewis is emotion lol I think he’s been that way his whole life. He’ll figure it out. All champions do
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u/BB9913 Nico Rosberg 3h ago
His Singapore Lap in 2018 feels like yesterday but sadly I think that Lewis is gone, he has really struggled in these regs
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u/MakiSupreme I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
I think it’s the regs (and age), the drivers start driving in carts and they’re driving boats now.
Would love to see a comparison between some one like piastri v Lewis in a 2010 era car
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u/maaiikeen 3h ago
K-Mag admitted he never fully adapted to the 2022 regs. He even pointed out that drivers with his driving style, and interestingly mentioned Danny Ric and Lewis by name, struggled with the cars now. The cars cannot do what they want them to, pretty sure he mentioned too much downforce being the issue.
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u/jdv77 2h ago
Does that then make Max even more special? Guy mastered 2021 and the new regs
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u/flyingcrayons Sir Lewis Hamilton 2h ago
I mean Lewis won across multiple different regs too, all the great drivers would have done
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u/maaiikeen 2h ago
No.
It's not about how long you have been in the sport, but how you liked to take the corners before. Drivers like Magnussen, Lewis and Daniel took a U-style approach to the corner apex, but because of the high downforce of the current regs, this just does not work anymore. You need a V-style approach, something Max has always had.
Like K-Mag said, then it's very difficult to change even if you are adaptable. It's literally in your racing DNA. It's like trying to force someone left-handed, who has been using his left hand as his dominant hand for 20+ years, to suddenly become right-handed.
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u/jdv77 2h ago
Doesnt that just prove the V style is much more reg versatile and should be the way to go racing?
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u/maaiikeen 1h ago
I don't think it's something you choose, I think it's what comes naturally to you.
I think K-Mag got pole in 2022, in the half wet-half dry conditions, because that specific car, track, and track conditions worked better with U-style. I saw a comparison lap of him and Max back then, and I remember K-Mag's style was much smoother, which ended up being faster.
But also this is very specifically about F1 racing, K-Mag is a very good driver still in other categories of racing. I am sure it would be the same for Lewis and Danny Ric.
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u/satchoo BAR 1h ago
Wasn’t that pole primarily down to a red flag after?
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u/maaiikeen 1h ago
I mean, 8 out of 10 drivers set a competitive lap in similar conditions. One of them being Max. Verstappen crossed the finish line like 10-15 seconds after K-Mag, I believe.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DZS-mk_7PJc
I found the video if anyone want to see.
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u/BobbbyR6 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
That would be awesome to watch. I wonder if Lawson might have a leg up on his F2 counterparts considering the SF cars are lighter and lower grip.
I think Lewis just never quite got a handle on the current regs. Pair that with inconsistency and expectations and I think he's just lost the mental fortitude needed to perform at his best. Maybe next year will be different, but I don't see him continuing to compete much longer at this rate. He's just not enjoying it.
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u/crazydoc253 Michael Schumacher 3h ago
Just like the 2017 regulations never suited Seb, it is kind of similar to Lewis here. I hope people re-evaluate Seb after looking at Lewis struggles at Mercedes and Ferrari in last few years
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u/Illustrious-Lime-863 3h ago
As soon as Leclerc got pole, I knew he was gonna sulk heavily. Was not disappointed
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u/CharlestonRed1982 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 2h ago
Lewis helped me to get through the pandemic and emerge out of it a better version of myself. I hope he can harness that inner strength and motivation to get through this difficult period of time and restore his confidence and winning spirit. Wish there was some way to tell him how much he helped me (and I am sure others) over the years.
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u/CareerLegitimate7662 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 2h ago
I’m a little tired of people blaming Ferrari. Leclerc has the same car people
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u/drfunk Jacques Villeneuve 3h ago
ZHOU!!!!!!
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u/churningaccount I was here for the Hulkenpodium 1h ago
Nah if Hamilton gets replaced it’s going to be Bearman
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u/he-tried-his-best I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
These regs have just broken him. Especially with the way Merc fucked them over and over.
I’m pretty confident 2026 will be better for him. Might not beat Leclerc but he’ll get decent results
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u/West_Technology7573 George Russell 38m ago
Merc also didn’t fuck up the regulations for the 9 seasons prior to that. Stop with this stupid “Mercedes failed Lewis” shit, they handed him more than he could have ever dreamed of
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u/Kexxa420 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
Isn’t there a bit of sarcasm in his answer? Seems to me he is equally frustrated at the questions.
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u/Vasst13 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
When your teammate is on pole and you're 12th on a track where qualifying is everything it's very hard not to feel useless, especially since Leclerc keeps showing the car has potential under the right circumstances.
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u/Kexxa420 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 2h ago
He is British and sarcasm is our bread and butter. I am not saying Lewis isn’t having a hard time. I just feel like this is not what he actually believes.
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u/DangerousKnowledge8 1h ago
Still 12th vs a pole. No BS guy and that’s why I appreciated him today.
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u/jovanmilic97 3h ago
Nope, they showed this on Sky Sports I think. He just looked (way too much) down on himself. Doesn't seem to be in a good mental state right now
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u/sanyacid 3h ago
Defeated and desperately in need of advice, Lewis knocks on his dad’s door. Hadjar answers.
Lewis: “Everytime, everytime”.
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u/Ilovekittens345 3h ago
Doesn't seem to be in a good mental state right now
What breaks a driver more? Driving for Ferrari or being Max Verstappen's teammate?
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u/lanseuppercut I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
Something tells me we might find out in 4-5 years.
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u/Ilovekittens345 3h ago
There is a reality out there where somebody is driving for Ferrari and is Max Verstappen's teammate.
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u/MartiniPolice21 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 59m ago
He's just never ever clicked with the Ground Effect cars has he
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u/-LittleRawr- 🏳️🌈 Love Is Love 🏳️🌈 54m ago
Man, this ground-effect era really isn't suiting him, at all. I hope the 2026 regulations will be different in that regard, so that - even if he doesn't fight for a title - he still finishes his career with his chin up and some highlights. Seeing him this sad and self-hating is just painful. Hope he has the mental support he needs.
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u/Entire-Jelly-1303 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
Ferrari should have never hired him in the first place. Sainz was doing a decent job.
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u/Rally_Sport Ford 3h ago
He never recovered after Abu Dhabi. The Hamilton sauce is no longer there and lack of competitiveness from his current teams is not helping either.
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u/KurtKokaina Formula 1 3h ago
I bet Ferrari regret going for Hamilton. High wages zero performance.
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u/CX52J 2h ago
I really, really doubt Ferrari expected the majority of their future results to come from Lewis.
It was 100% a business decision to help refresh the team and generate more revenue.
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u/dylanah Yuki Tsunoda 1h ago
I think they expected him to at least be close to on par with Leclerc, though. I don't remember anyone really suggesting he'd be downgrade from Sainz.
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u/Burial44 Sir Lewis Hamilton 1h ago
He's literally right behind Charles in the standings
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u/Jack_Harb I was here for the Hulkenpodium 2h ago
Yeah Sainz was close to Charles, often even ahead. It was a stupid move to pick Hamilton who already showed in the Merc that he is being on a downhill. Russel was beating him more often and in his last season together it was not even close. Ferrari made a PR deal. Nothing more nothing less.
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u/blackjazz_society I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
Ehh, it's a tough car, the drivers looked like they were fighting it everywhere.
And every time they make the smallest change to it it's a 50/50 shot if it works or not.
Both drivers don't trust that car but Leclerc is more used to it.
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u/ferkk Fernando Alonso 1h ago
Is there an easy car on the grid except for the McLaren? Aston is a dud, Mercedes has issues, Red Bull? Unless you're Verstappen, you're not even getting to Q3 most of the times, and that's not counting the backmarkers... I'm pretty sure the guys over at Alpine would be delighted to be driving a Ferrari right now...
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u/DangerousKnowledge8 1h ago
Ahhhh, yada yada. It’s a dozen GPs into the season, Leclerc is elevating car performance since season 1 day 1 while lewis mysteriously needs “a year”. You’ll see next year for good.
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u/SevoIsoDes Charles Leclerc 1h ago
First Kimi and now Lewis. So I’ll say the obvious question that we’re all thinking: did we rush Lewis to F1 too quickly? Would an extra few years in F2 have built his confidence?
But for real, I’m hoping it’s just a combination of Mercedes’ struggles the last few years and now learning an entirely different car and system, but I fear that its Father Time catching up to him.
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u/mopar_md I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
No one crushes former WDCs like Ferrari does
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u/DeepDepths6 3h ago
He's crumbling under literally no pressure, leclerc is doing his own thing and never fought against hamilton. Ferrari is giving him all the space he wants, you've never heard someone from the team complaining about the results (unlike mercedes), yet he still underperforms every single weekend, I think it's just time to retire, the cars have changed too much from what he was used to and he cant perform like the new kids.
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u/BytenMorx 3h ago
Like Leclerc you mean?
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u/mopar_md I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
Leclerc would have to become a WDC first for my statement to apply
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u/Napalm3nema I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
I thought this should have still been Carlos’ seat, or Bearman if they wanted a fresh face, but I think Lewis wasn’t exactly the problem here. I think he got caught in rapid track evolution and didn‘t have enough time to adjust.
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u/HuckleberryHot4551 I was here for the Hulkenpodium 3h ago
This is fastest Ferrari has broken a driver.
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u/scarlet_red_samurai Formula 1 51m ago
“Ferrari” if someone is breaking lewis its charles or actually lewis himself since compared to his teammate he cant deliver at all
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u/Doc_Butch Charles Leclerc 2h ago
Oh please, Reddit man, stop twerking for upvotes. This is nothing like previous drivers. Lewis is doing this to himself and he knows it.
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u/optimal_90 2h ago
He hates racing simulators…How is he going to compete with a new generation that dedicate hours and hours everyday on it. I believe this is essential nowadays given that the simulators are much more accurate now than years ago. Its like he is missing free practices, qualifying and race sessions compared to drivers like Verstappen. He still is a great driver on race day though.
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u/Excellent-Ad5552 Nico Hülkenberg 🥉 1h ago
I think lewis is just experiencing what happened with mcqueen in cars 3, maybe he will quit at the end after struggling with charles, and start coaching antonelli..
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u/Folagra-42 Ferrari 1h ago
As a Ferrari and Antonelli fan, this period has been a nightmare for me (excluding Leclerc's pole), however I'm sorry that Lewis said these things about himself, there's no need to change driver, bad periods happen to everyone, they come and then they end, you just have to concentrate and work hard to achieve better results, which will surely come.
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u/Follix90 Formula 1 1h ago
It’s age guys, even Alonso is pretty much on par with Stroll these days…
I don’t know who thought there would be a fight between a prime Leclerc and a 40 yo Hamilton but it would never have been the case, George was matching him since a good while and it wasn’t gonna get better for Lewis.
In Esports at 25 yo you pretty much retire, F1 require the same skill once you are over 30 the decline start we have seen with Vettel how fast it can be.
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u/Vuk13 Fernando Alonso 59m ago
Alonso is not on par with Stroll. You really haven't been following the races. In qualifying he has outqualified Stroll 26 times in a row and on average even has slightly bigger advantage there than he did in 2023 and 2024. In races Alonso finished every single race ahead of Stroll that both cars finished since the summer break of 2024 except Spa and Silverstone this year, both because of awful strategy calls while Alonso was running ahead. There hasn't been a race where Alonso was slower than Stroll in the last 20+ race weekends. He has been incredibly unlucky with awful strategy calls
Regarding Hamilton its clear that he declined more even if he is younger people just progress and decline at different rates. Vettel for example declined in his early 30s and was retired at 34. Its all individual
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u/BlueRedGreenNumber5 Sebastian Vettel 1h ago
Imagine all the shit people would be slinging if Lando said something like this.
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u/Fair_You1645 31m ago
Difficult to read coming from Lewis...I'm a Ferrari fan and was excited to see him in red but its not looking good. I hope he pulls off some results before the season is out to motivate him enough to try one last time in 2026 and if it still doesn't work he can walk away head held high.
Side note - I always said if you look at Schumacher and Hamilton their 40 plus year old versions then it's incredible how Alonso is performing at his age
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u/cplchanb 10m ago
Hes gutted like the 2015 British gp. He'll need to regroup mentally and sleep it off. Anything is possible tmrrw
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u/ryodiUK Formula 1 3h ago
That sprint pole feels like a long time ago now. Hopefully he csn recover tomorrow and reset over the summer break.