Lewis Hamilton Says He Is Worlds Away From Calling Himself Absolutely Useless a Year Ago

• Lewis Hamilton says he arrives at the Hungarian Grand Prix “worlds away” from where he stood a year ago, when he called himself “absolutely useless” after qualifying 12th
• The Ferrari driver has outscored teammate Charles Leclerc by 33 points over the first ten rounds of 2026 and sits second in the championship
• Hamilton says small mistakes at Silverstone and Spa, not a lack of pace, cost him victories in both races

Lewis Hamilton has reflected on the scale of his turnaround, comparing his current form to the darkest weekend of his first season at Ferrari and saying he now arrives at the Hungarian Grand Prix in a completely different state of mind to twelve months ago.

At last year’s race in Budapest, Hamilton qualified 12th and declared himself “absolutely useless,” adding that Ferrari would “probably need to change driver.” It was the low point of a difficult debut campaign in red, one in which he could not match Charles Leclerc’s pace and did not finish on the podium all year.

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Looking Back at Rock Bottom

Twelve months on, and following changes to Formula 1’s technical regulations over the winter, Hamilton has returned to the grid a transformed competitor. He took his first win for Ferrari at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix in June and has outscored Leclerc by 33 points across the opening ten rounds of the season.

Asked to reflect on the last year ahead of this weekend’s race, Hamilton did not shy away from how difficult that period had been, but pointed to what it took to climb out of it. “I’m definitely proud of everyone in the team and also I am definitely proud of myself for getting myself out of the place that I was in,” he said.

He hinted that the full story of that weekend will eventually be told in more detail. “One day when I do my documentary, I’ll tell you all about that weekend and what led up into it,” Hamilton said. “But to come from there, even coming into this week I felt a lot from last week [at the Belgian Grand Prix] and I arrive worlds away from where I was last year.”

A Car Built Around Him

Hamilton has spoken throughout the season about changes Ferrari made behind the scenes to suit his preferences, and he credited that work directly for putting him in contention for wins in 2026. “I feel really grateful for the way we’ve developed as a team,” he said. “The pieces to the puzzle that have moved and come together. And now we come here with a great car, with a great package as a whole that we can fight with.”

The results back up the sentiment. Hamilton finished third and fourth respectively at the British and Belgian Grands Prix, the last two rounds before Hungary, while Leclerc took first and second in the same two races. On pure pace, Hamilton insists, the gap between the two Ferrari drivers was smaller than the results suggest.

Small Errors, Not a Lack of Pace

Hamilton was candid about what actually cost him victories in Britain and Belgium, pointing to individual mistakes rather than a shortfall in performance. “Every weekend the goal is to try to extract the most from the weekend,” he said. “I would say we have had a couple of good weekends and we got to Silverstone, started out well and one step in the wrong direction and it took us away from competing for a win.”

He said the same pattern repeated itself at Spa-Francorchamps the following race. “The same thing last week, so that just shows how things can go in this sport,” Hamilton said. “But I’m still grateful that we’ve had consistency, still scored points, but on pure pace the front runners weren’t that far away.”

Hamilton pointed specifically to how close Ferrari ran championship leader Kimi Antonelli at a circuit many expected Mercedes to dominate. “Normally Kimi is so fast he pulls away and he wasn’t ballistic [in Belgium] and we were a lot closer than we thought,” he said. “So to go to two circuits where we thought we would be quite far behind and to have Charles win and finish second shows that we are moving in the right direction.”

Second in the Standings, Chasing Antonelli

Hamilton sits second in the drivers’ championship heading into round 11 of 22, trailing Antonelli by 45 points as the 19-year-old Mercedes driver continues a remarkable rookie-adjacent title bid. Speaking separately about his prospects of fighting for an eighth world championship this year, Hamilton made clear he sees no reason to lower his ambitions with the season’s midpoint approaching.

“It’s amazing,” Hamilton said of being back in title contention for the first time in the years that followed his narrow championship loss to Max Verstappen in 2021. “It’s a great feeling, especially when you look at the contrast of where we were last year here.”

He was quick to credit the collective effort behind his revival while also acknowledging his own part in it. “I’m really proud of the team for the curve and step we have taken collectively and I have to always acknowledge my own efforts and the work I’ve put in and the changes I’ve made to enable us to be where we are and I’m really proud of myself for that,” he said. “There’s still a lot of work to do and still a mountain to climb ahead of us on the second half of the season but I’m more focused than ever and I really believe we can fight.”

Hamilton was careful not to treat Hungary as a decisive moment in that pursuit, even with the summer break arriving straight after. “We are continuing to develop, we are continuing to push,” he said. “There’s still a long way to go. I don’t see this one or the next one as a break point. I don’t know when it becomes the break point, if there is a break point. This is just the time for us to continue to hammer down and continue to double down on our development and continue to push. We have had two wins as a team, plenty of podiums, we are right there on their tails and I think we are now able to compete with them more consistently for victories, which I think is positive.”

Even so, Hamilton was reluctant to write off Mercedes at a track that has traditionally suited Ferrari’s chassis. “I don’t want to make assumptions,” he said. “The last couple races, ultimately we should have won the last two races if we perfected the weekend. The car was able to have won. In Spa we were more competitive than we thought and I missed something on that weekend and that’s not what I want to do this weekend. We have got a car that can compete. I think Mercedes still have the car to beat, naturally, as they have won the most and they won’t be easy to beat this weekend. But we have made subtle progress and hopefully can fight with them this weekend.”

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Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

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