Lewis Hamilton was dejected on Saturday after his poor qualifying performance in Hungary. Little had changed by Sunday, as he failed to improve from twelfth place. The Ferrari driver is longing for the summer break.
On Saturday, the seven-time world champion only blamed himself after failing to get through Q2 in qualifying, while his teammate Charles Leclerc put the car on pole. “Nothing has changed,” Hamilton said on Sunday after the race. “I don’t have much to say.”
With a one-stop strategy that many drivers in the points adopted, Hamilton didn’t get beyond twelfth place. That was also the position he had started in. “The result is the result,” Hamilton said almost in a whisper to the press. “There must be something positive to take from this race.”
But first come three weeks of vacation, which Hamilton is looking forward to. “Really very much,” he confirmed. After his comment on Saturday that Ferrari should replace the driver, he confirmed that he will be back in Zandvoort in three weeks. “I’ll be back.”
‘Lewis is very demanding, especially towards himself’
Team boss Fred Vasseur can understand his driver’s attitude. “I could understand it yesterday. Lewis is very demanding, not only towards us. Also towards me, the car and himself. That is also the approach with which he has won seven world titles,” said the Frenchman at F1 TV. “That is mainly due to the demands he places on himself.”
Vasseur saw where things went wrong for Hamilton on Sunday at the Hungaroring. “We fell a bit into the trap of starting on the hard tire. We knew the start could be difficult and that turned out to be the case. We lost places. Then you end up in a DRS train,” said the Ferrari team boss. “We should just forget about this.”
Step forward made with update
Hamilton was still able to end the weekend positively. He sees that the Ferrari with the new rear suspension introduced in Belgium has become stronger.
“We have really taken a step forward with that update. It is a pity that we are not yet as fast as the McLarens, but Charles has now driven two strong races in a row. The car is really improving, so we need to get more out of it.”