Lewis Hamilton said Ferrari should drop him from his £60million-a-year-contract after he qualified a horrendous 12th for the Hungarian Grand Prix while his team-mate Charles Leclerc took a shock pole position.
Hamilton’s display marked his worst-ever qualifying result in Budapest, and moved his head-to-head record against Leclerc in qualifying to 10-4 this season.
A distraught, monosyllabic Hamilton said: ‘It’s me every time. I’m useless, absolutely useless.
‘The team have no problem. You’ve seen the car’s on pole. So we probably need to change driver.’
Hamilton has only competed 13 races for Ferrari since his sensational move to the team, and has not finished on the podium in that period. He is 30 points behind Leclerc, whose pole came from nowhere, with the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris qualifying second and third.
Hamilton’s only high point at Ferrari has been victory in the sprint in China. Other than that, he has desperately struggled for form, aged 40.
Lewis Hamilton sensationally called for Ferrari to replace him after qualifying P12 in Hungary
Hamilton trails his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc 10-4 in their qualifying head-to-head
The seven-time world champion is yet to score a podium for Ferrari since his blockbuster move
His performance on Saturday was a season-long meltdown in microcosm. The seven-time world champion remains stuck in P6 in the drivers’ championship, trailing Leclerc by 30 points.
It was the fourth time this season that Hamilton has missed out on Q3, having also suffered a Q1 exit at the Belgian Grand Prix last week.
On that occasion, he recovered from a pit lane start to finish seventh in the race and was voted Driver of the Day.
The Hungaroring has traditionally been a happy hunting ground for the Brit, where he holds a record nine pole positions and eight wins.
But while he will be hoping to summon some of the same fighting spirit he showed at Spa, Hungary’s circuit is among the toughest for overtaking.
Unless he makes an early impact on Sunday, Hamilton could find himself locked in a midfield battle.