Fred Vasseur shares what you ‘cannot’ pin Lewis Hamilton’s Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying disaster on

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Lewis Hamilton suffered yet another disaster at Ferrari in 2025 as he was eliminated in Q2 in qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

It marks the second race in a row where the seven-time champion has failed to reach Q3. Hamilton suffered a double Q1 elimination at the Belgian GP, but recovered well in the race to finish P7 after starting from the pit lane.

The Brit had hoped to see differences from Ferrari’s new rear suspension, but he has struggled to get used to the update. Hamilton needed ‘two days’ to adapt while Charles Leclerc got it ‘immediately’ as he finished on the podium at Spa, and the Monegasque driver was on top again at Budapest.

Leclerc secured his 27th career pole at the Hungarian Grand Prix, beating the McLarens in a surprise result, given Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris topped every session up to that point. The mood could not be any more different on the other side of the garage.

The margins were incredibly thin in qualifying, with Hamilton missing out on Q3 by just 15 thousandths of a second. The 40-year-old was completely dejected after the session, even stating that Ferrari should swap drivers as his teammate claimed pole position.

Fred Vasseur says you ‘cannot’ blame Lewis Hamilton’s driving for Hungarian GP qualifying disaster

Despite another disastrous qualifying, his team principal pointed towards other issues besides the driver. Fred Vasseur disagreed with Hamilton’s comments, instead looking at his out lap in Q2.

Journalist Jon Noble caught up with Vasseur after qualifying, and the Frenchman further reiterated that the Brit was not the problem. Speaking via The Race, Noble noted that the Ferrari boss blamed the team’s approach to Q2.

“I spoke to Fred Vasseur afterwards, and he says you cannot judge this based on one car in P1, one car in P12, it’s not about that,” he said.

“You’ve got to look at the isolation of Q2. I mean, Lewis was a bit more than two tenths off Charles, which is a big gap, but it’s not a disastrous gap.

“And indeed, 15 thousandths of a second was the difference. He just fell the wrong side in a session where Ferrari had struggled. Charles Leclerc had a really scrappy final lap.

“The car was… they’ve got lower on downforce settings, track grip was falling away, they were pushing hard, all quite difficult. He fell the wrong side of it, and I think it’s as simple as that.

“And as Fred Vasseur says, the issue isn’t Lewis’ driving, the issue was they didn’t execute Q2 very well.”

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Lewis Hamilton’s dejection at Ferrari is clear to see after Hungarian GP setback

Hamilton always impressed Valtteri Bottas in qualifying in Hungary during his Mercedes days, especially with his ability in the final corners. However, he was not able to find that form with Ferrari in 2025.

Sam Bird noticed Hamilton was struggling with braking during qualifying, a problem that he has faced throughout 2025 with the difficult nature of the SF-25. He has vented his frustrations about the car all season, but this is by far the most despondent he has been since joining Ferrari.

Hamilton was completely ‘out of character’ after qualifying, as he was seen to be soft-spoken and less energetic. The 40-year-old faces a more difficult task of climbing through the field than Spa, due to the twisty nature of the Hungaroring circuit.

Despite his huge disappointment, Hamilton still took the time to congratulate Leclerc for his pole position. Ferrari will be hoping he can stay ahead of the McLarens to claim their first win of 2025.