{"id":44321,"date":"2025-08-05T03:03:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T03:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/44321\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T03:03:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T03:03:13","slug":"hungarian-grand-prix-lewis-hamilton-future-comments-interview-will-he-retire-leave-ferrari-mercedes-return-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/44321\/","title":{"rendered":"Hungarian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton future, comments, interview, will he retire?, leave Ferrari, Mercedes return, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

A frustrated Lewis Hamilton\u2019s comments and a surprise sighting has sent the F1 rumour mill into over drive about the seven-time world champion\u2019s future in the aftermath of the Hungarian Grand Prix<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hamilton\u2019s high profile switch from Mercedes to Ferrari has been far from smooth this year.<\/p>\n

The 40-year-old sits sixth in the driver\u2019s standings, but it is in qualifying where things have really not gone to plan.<\/p>\n

\ufeffFox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship\u2122 LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

Hamilton exited in Q2 in Hungary as teammate Charles Leclerc stunned the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to take pole.<\/p>\n

The Brit then told media that Ferrari may have to get rid of him<\/a>, despite being only in the first year of a three-year contract reportedly worth \u20ac80 million (A$143m) per season.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m useless,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely useless. The team has no problem. You\u2019ve seen the car on pole so they probably need to change driver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Race Recap: Norris pips Piastri by <1s! | 09:42<\/p>\n

Hamilton\u2019s mood did not get better on Sunday as he finished 12th, outside the points for the first time in his career at Hungaroring. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Leclerc fell to fourth and launched a scathing attack on his team over the radio mid-race, labelling the car \u201cundriveable\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hamilton also shared discontent in the garage, saying: \u201cThere\u2019s a lot going on in the background that isn\u2019t great.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur was not publicly dismayed by Hamilton\u2019s comments post-race in Hungary.<\/p>\n

Vasseur acknowledged Hamilton\u2019s frustrations, but insisted that he had not lost motivation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t need to motivate him, honestly,\u201d Vasseur said. <\/p>\n

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of the United Kingdom, left, arrives to the drivers parade at the Hungaroring racetrack, in Mogyorod, Hungary, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, ahead of the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix. (AP Photo\/Denes Erdos)Source: AP<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s frustrated but not demotivated, it\u2019s a completely different story.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain, I can perfectly understand the situation and you can, sometimes you are making comments on what the driver is saying to the car, but if you put the microphone on some other sportsman in football and so on, I\u2019m not sure that it would be much better.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes they are making [rash] comments, even when they jump out of the car.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can understand the frustration, but we are all frustrated and sometimes if you ask me, I can\u2019t say this, I will go to the stewards.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut sometimes just after the race, or just after the Quali, you are very disappointed and the reaction, the first reaction is harsh, but we all know that we are pushing in the same direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

McLaren call costs Piastri Hungary win | 02:38<\/p>\n

But with F1 taking a three-week break following the Hungarian Grand Prix, there is time for reflection and considered choices rather than raw emotion in the heat of race day.<\/p>\n

It also means there is ample time to thoroughly think about what comes next.<\/p>\n

Founder and former CEO of F1 Group Bernie Ecclestone believes that for Hamilton, that should be retirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cLewis is very talented, was and probably still is,\u201d the 94-year-old told The Daily Mail. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut like a lot of leading sports personalities when they reach the top, there is only one way to go, and it\u2019s not a good direction. It\u2019s only down.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey get tired. Lewis is tired. He\u2019s been doing what he is doing forever. He needs a rest from it for good, a total reset to do something completely different.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe may not think it but he will soon get used to doing other stuff away from motor racing in retirement. I think he should have done it a while ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guy is not a cheat. But he would be cheating himself if he goes on. He should stop now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I were looking after him I would negotiate with Ferrari immediately and say, \u2018If you have someone to replace Lewis, he\u2019ll step aside\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘**** turned in on me!’ Russell fumes | 01:43<\/p>\n

But eagle-eyed observers spotted what could be an interesting clue to Hamilton\u2019s future in Hungary.<\/p>\n

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was spotted leaving the Ferrari motor home on Sunday after Vasseur and Ferrari chairman John Elkann were seen at the Mercedes motor home earlier in the week.<\/p>\n

Of course, it sent the sport\u2019s rumour mill into over drive with suggestions of retirement or a driver swap.<\/p>\n

\u201cExtreme caution should be exercised when entertaining such dramatic theories,\u201d The Telegraph\u2019s<\/a> Luke Slater wrote. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is possible to put two and two together and come out with 44. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are any number of \u2013 quite frankly far more boring \u2013 reasons for these visits. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe most likely topic of discussion was the upcoming regulation set for 2026, with dramatic changes to the power units the teams use \u2013 Ferrari and Mercedes are two of F1\u2019s engine manufacturers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Piastri & Norris INCHES from colliding! | 00:48<\/p>\n

Despite attempts to pour cold water on the speculation, intrigue surrounding Hamilton\u2019s problems in \u201cthe background\u201d comment persist.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat could they possibly be?\u201d Slater continued. <\/p>\n

\u201cIs he referring to issues with the car and its development, or something broader within the Ferrari team and organisation? <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile what happens behind closed doors at the team is hard to gauge \u2013 and the Italian giants have historically done a better job than any of keeping problems under wraps \u2013 issues with the car have been clear to see this year, though they are improving. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs for Mercedes, they still have no drivers confirmed for 2026. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a strange, almost bizarre situation when one of them is George Russell, who has been one of the standout performers of the season. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe underlined that again by taking a sixth podium of the year on Sunday \u2013 that is more than anyone bar the two McLaren drivers.<\/p>\n

“Why didn’t you just T-Bone him?” | 01:18<\/p>\n

\u201cRookie teenager Kimi Antonelli in the other Mercedes is having a difficult first season. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis early promise and results have disappeared and it says plenty that his 10th place in Hungary \u2013 his first points since Canada \u2013 felt like a minor success.<\/p>\n

\u201cRussell\u2019s new contract was tied up with how far Mercedes progressed with trying to sign Max Verstappen, but the Dutchman will remain at Red Bull for 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russell is a near certainty to have a new deal put in front of him, but the uncertainty of the Mercedes second seat will mean rumours keep coming back to Hamilton.<\/p>\n

That is if he stills a future for himself on the grid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A frustrated Lewis Hamilton\u2019s comments and a surprise sighting has sent the F1 rumour mill into over drive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44322,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[2095,64,63,38755,2065,13275,36380,38753,38749,38766,19018,38765,38758,11301,38763,2057,38767,817,38752,12017,813,816,13276,3875,939,38768,2097,38757,10115,1737,823,825,18506,38761,2041,2067,3583,25593,36769,38759,38762,38764,38754,38760,20587,85,38756,38748,38750,38751,13773,3586],"class_list":["post-44321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-america","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bold-call","tag-canada","tag-charles-leclerc","tag-choice-words","tag-cold-water","tag-comments-post-race","tag-curious-sighting","tag-daily-mail","tag-driver-swap","tag-drivers-parade","tag-eastern-europe","tag-engine-manufacturers","tag-europe","tag-extreme-caution","tag-f1","tag-f1-group-bernie-ecclestone","tag-final-stages","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-fred-vasseur","tag-george-russell","tag-hungary","tag-italian-giants","tag-john-elkann","tag-keeping-problems","tag-kimi-antonelli","tag-lando-norris","tag-lewis-hamilton","tag-max-verstappen","tag-mercedes-team-principal","tag-motor-home","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-northern-europe","tag-penultimate-lap","tag-piastri-norris-inches","tag-race-day","tag-raw-emotion","tag-regulation-set","tag-rookie-teenager","tag-rumour-mill","tag-seven-time-world-champion","tag-sports","tag-sports-personalities","tag-standout-performers","tag-surprise-sighting","tag-switch-rumour","tag-team-principal","tag-united-kingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}