Toto Wolff says while it\u2019s all good and well that Lewis Hamilton wears his heart on his sleeve, his disparaging comments about himself in Hungary were a \u201cbad moment\u201d for the seven-time world champion.<\/p>\n
After all, greats like Michael Jordan would never call themselves useless and declare the team should change the player.<\/p>\n
Toto Wolff on Lewis Hamilton\u2019s \u2018useless\u2019 comment: That was wrong to say that<\/p>\n
Hamilton<\/a> went through a bad patch in the run-up to Formula 1\u2019s annual summer break when he failed to make it into Q3 in three successive qualifying sessions.<\/p>\n His Sprint quali at the Belgian Grand Prix ended with the Ferrari driver stationary in the Bus Stop Chicane run-off area after a spin, while in qualifying for the grand prix, a track limit violation at Raidillon cost him his fastest lap time.<\/p>\n Recording back-to-back Q1 eliminations, he declared: \u201cIt\u2019s a very poor performance for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n A week later in Hungary, Hamilton progressed to Q2 but that\u2019s where his qualifying ended as he missed out on a Q3 berth by a quarter of a second. Adding to his misery, his teammate Charles Leclerc went on to put the other Ferrari on pole position.<\/p>\n A visibly upset Hamilton told Sky F1: \u201cI\u2019m useless, absolutely useless.<\/p>\n \u201cThe team, they have no problem \u2013 you\u2019ve seen the car is on pole. So, they probably need to change driver.\u201d<\/p>\n His self-criticism raised eyebrows in the paddock, but one person wasn\u2019t pandering to it \u2013 his former Mercedes team principal Wolff.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought that was wrong to say that and I told him that the same evening and again the next day,\u201d Wolff revealed to GPBlog.<\/p>\n \u201cDid you ever hear Michael Jordan say about himself, I\u2019m useless and that you change the player? No.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, you\u2019re wearing your heart on your sleeve, which is good, which is a fantastic character trait of his, that he speaks his emotion. And that makes him also the superstar he is, that he has those emotions and doesn\u2019t hide.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that one, I felt was just such a bad moment for him that he said that, because it\u2019s simply not true.\u201d<\/p>\n Analysis: Lewis Hamilton\u2019s mega-millions move to Ferrari<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 10 biggest sports deals in history: Where does Lewis Hamilton\u2019s Ferrari salary rank?<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 Lewis Hamilton net worth: Where does he rank against football icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?<\/a><\/p>\n 16 races into his first season as a Ferrari driver, Hamilton has yet to secure a debut podium in red. Should the Briton fall short of the podium, it would mark his first Formula 1 campaign in his 19 years on the grid without a top-three grand prix result.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s clear that there is moments of big frustration,\u201d Wolff said. \u201cBut he\u2019s had those frustrations with us as well.<\/p>\n \u201cHe just needs another good race weekend or two and then we\u2019re gonna see a very different Lewis Hamilton.\u201d<\/p>\n But while Hamilton\u2019s Formula 1 career will most likely end at Ferrari, Wolff says his legacy will forever be tied to Mercedes just as Michael Schumacher\u2019s legacy will always be his time as a Ferrari driver.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s gonna retire, nobody\u2019s gonna ever know that he was at Ferrari at the end,\u201d said the Austrian. \u201cWho thinks about the Schumacher and Mercedes time? That isn\u2019t relevant for Schumacher\u2019s career.\u201d<\/p>\n That, however, could change if Hamilton were to secure his record-breaking eighth Drivers\u2019 Championship title with Ferrari, thus breaking his tie with Schumacher.<\/p>\n