Martin Brundle's doubt: 'Can Lewis Hamilton endure two more seasons like this?’

F1 commentator Martin Brundle admits Lewis Hamilton’s ongoing struggles at Ferrari are “painful to observe” - and has questioned whether the seven-time world champion will see out his contract if the situation doesn’t improve.

Hamilton endured a difficult weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The 40-year-old finished 12th on Sunday, a lap down on race winner Lando Norris.

Hamilton delivered two abject interviews after qualifying and the grand prix in Budapest.

After F1 qualifying, Hamilton described himself as “absolutely useless” following his shock Q2 exit.

Hamilton even suggested that Ferrari should consider changing drivers, considering teammate Charles Leclerc had taken pole position.

He was in a similar mood after the race, only giving short answers.

In his post-race column for Sky Sports F1, Brundle described Lewis Hamilton as “in a difficult place personally”.

“I’m not looking forward to writing this next section, it’s about Lewis Hamilton, who endured what must have been one of the worst weekends of his career, in and out of the car,” Brundle wrote.

“He struggled for ultimate pace in qualifying, and with the pack so close he would start only 12th when his teammate Leclerc was on pole. He would then describe himself as “useless” in post-qualifying interviews and suggest the team should change the driver. That was best left unsaid, but he obviously wanted to openly punish himself.”

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.

“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. 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.”

Brundle casts doubt over Hamilton’s long term future

Hamilton’s struggles are inevitably raising questions over whether he will consider retirement.

Hamilton is F1’s greatest driver statistically with seven world titles and over 100 race victories.

He has nothing left to prove, but Hamilton has reiterated his desire to bring silverware to Maranello - something fellow F1 world champions Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel failed to do.

Brundle doubts Hamilton will see out his Ferrari contract if this form continues.

“The summer break couldn’t be more timely for Lewis to have a reset,” Brundle said.

“It’s painful to observe this great champion in so much strife, 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.”