Ralf Schumacher tells Lewis Hamilton he’s just replicated the moment he knew he needed to retire

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Lewis Hamilton made a stunning statement at the end of qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix that caught many fans off guard.

Qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix was incredibly close, and Lewis Hamilton missed out on the top 10 shootout by a few milliseconds.

It didn’t help that Hamilton’s Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc went on to take a pole position that nobody expected.

Hamilton was quick to praise Leclerc after the race, but his comments that made headlines were far more self-critical.

He said: “I’m useless, absolutely useless.

“The team, they have no problem – you’ve seen the car is on pole. So, they probably need to change driver. I drove terribly. It is what it is.”

It’s not the first time in Hamilton’s career that he’s sounded downbeat, but it’s hard to remember a moment when he’s been this upset.

Mercedes apologised to Hamilton last season when he claimed he could no longer qualify properly after starting tenth at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Ferrari will hope he can replicate that performance, as he scythed his way through the pack to finish second.

Unfortunately, former driver Ralf Schumacher has pinpointed the moment he knew he had to retire from racing, and saw that in Hamilton during Saturday’s qualifying performance.

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Ralf Schumacher sends retirement warning to Lewis Hamilton at the Hungarian Grand Prix

Schumacher was covering the Hungarian Grand Prix for Sky Sports Germany and compared Hamilton’s difficulties in qualifying with the end of Sebastian Vettel’s Formula 1 career.

He said: “That will be on his mind now.

“When you reach a certain age and are no longer competitive and can no longer keep up with your teammate, you start to think things through.

“When that happened to me in the DTM, I retired.”

The likes of Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and even Michael Schumacher during his second spell in Formula 1 all arguably retired when it was obvious that they were significantly slower than when they were at their peaks.

For Hamilton, that’s not quite the case yet, but next year might be the deciding factor.

It’s clear that he’s struggled with the ground-effect cars throughout this most recent era of F1, but if he doesn’t see an uptick in performance next season, then it might be time for him to walk away from the sport.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Who were the last drivers to leave Formula 1 while driving for Ferrari?

Ferrari have a reputation for being a leading team in Formula 1, even if they’ve not won a title since 2008.

It means that their drivers are typically at their peak, and Hamilton is somewhat of an outlier, having been signed so late in his career by the Scuderia.

The last two drivers to end their Formula 1 careers with a spell at Ferrari were Felipe Massa’s stand-ins during the 2009 season.

Luca Badoer set the record for most race starts without scoring a point, and he was quickly replaced by Giancarlo Fisichella, who retired at the end of the campaign.

Hamilton will know that it’s very unlikely he’ll start working with another team in Formula 1 after his Ferrari contract expires.

It’s up to him and the team to make sure that he at least finishes on the podium once, to avoid being grouped with the likes of Badoer and Fisichella when considering his Ferrari career.