Lewis Hamilton admits: “I haven’t been at my best for over a year”

The seven-time world champion beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to a shock pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix - his first pole since 2021 - but could only finish fourth in Sunday’s race. 

Hamilton was beaten off the line by Verstappen on the run down to Turn 1 before losing further positions to the fast-starting McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris as his dreams of a first win in 33 races were dashed. 

“I haven’t been at my best for over a year,” Hamilton said. “So I think yesterday [Saturday] felt like it was me being back to my best.”

Hamilton showed some encouraging pace in the last stint as he battled back past Piastri for fourth and hunted down Sergio Perez’s Red Bull, but conceded his Mercedes was ultimately not quick enough to challenge their rivals 

“It’s obvious we’re not the quickest, we don’t have the quickest car,” he explained. 

“I’m really proud of myself and the job that we did yesterday to get pole position to outperform the world champion and the other two cars that were quicker than us.

“Today is just reality. The reality is we are not fast enough. They already told me in strategy this morning I would be at least five-tenths slower than the Red Bull so the fight is not with Max. 

"We were hoping we could fight the McLarens but the McLaren was too quick for us also.”

The 38-year-old reckons third would have been the best possible result had it not been for his nightmare start. 

“I think we may have been able to finish third with a slightly better start, but fourth is still okay,” Hamilton added. 

“Max got a better start than me. I just got a bit of wheelspin and a bit compromised after that.”