Former Formula 1 driver and Sky Sports F1 analyst Martin Brundle claimed it was “painful to observe this great champion in so much strife” after Lewis Hamilton’s difficult weekend in Budapest.
After what Brundle described as “one of the worst weekends of his career,” Hamilton finished the Hungarian Grand Prix in 12th, the same position he started in.
While speaking to the media following his early qualifying exit, the Ferrari driver claimed he was “useless” and that the Maranello outfit should consider another driver.
When asked by Sky Sports F1 to clarify his comments after the race, he said: “When you have a feeling, you have a feeling. There’s a lot going on in the background that is not great.”
Brundle, who was present at the Hungaroring to commentate, discussed the situation in his latest column.
“He’s clearly in a difficult place personally, and during the race he would finish in that same 12th position, never really showing signs of progress,” the former driver wrote.
“He sat in the car in parc ferme post-race for what seemed an age, was very downbeat in interviews again, and then declined to attend a stewards’ enquiry about a rather ambitious move Max Verstappen made on him during the race in the blind and fast Turn Four, in which Lewis chose to drive off the road to avoid contact.
Martin Brundle
Photo by: James Sutton / Motorsport Images
“He didn’t want to contest the incident and conceded via his team, but Max did attend the meeting with a rational explanation from his viewpoint, and avoided a penalty.”
In contrast to his downbeat post-race and qualifying comments, Hamilton explained in the Ferrari debrief that he was looking forward to using the summer break to reset and re-energise, which Brundle feels “couldn’t be more timely.”
“It’s painful to observe this great champion in so much strife,” Brundle added, “and we have to expect that he can weather the storm and return to form given his talent and experience, but otherwise I simply can’t see him enduring two more seasons at Ferrari, or anywhere else, like this.”
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