Ferrari blamed for Lewis Hamilton 'useless' interview, “they allowed it to happen”

Lewis Hamilton's beleagured interview in Hungary which prompted doubts about his future was the fault of Ferrari, expert F1 analyst Peter Windsor believes.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton is enduring a difficult and disappointing debut campaign with Ferrari since completing a blockbuster switch from Mercedes over the winter.

During a woeful weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Hamilton failed to reach Q3 and could only finish 12th, the 40-year-old Briton declared himself “useless” and suggested Ferrari should “change driver”.

Speaking on The F1 Hour podcast, Windsor reacted to Hamilton’s latest comments.

“Absolutely gut-wrenching to see a driver of Lewis’ quality and stature saying that about himself,” Windsor said.

“Shame on Ferrari really that they’ve allowed that to happen because he should have been coached into saying nothing really, rather than saying that. That was very sad to see.”

Is Abu Dhabi 2021 still taking its toll?

Windsor suggested Hamilton is still suffering from being denied a record-breaking eighth world title in 2021.

Then-F1 race director Michael Masi incorrectly applied the Safety Car rules, enabling Max Verstappen to snatch the championship from Hamilton on the very last lap.

Windsor is convinced Hamilton was unable to “shrug off” what transpired in Abu Dhabi, and feels Mercedes boss Toto Wolff should have done more to fight for his former driver.

“If you want to go back to where all this started, two names spring to mind; Michael Masi and Toto Wolff,” Windsor explained.

“I did say that at the time, I did say that this is not something that Lewis will be able to shrug off, not only because he didn’t win the championship in the way that transpired. But all the other stuff that was going on as well.

“The hiring of George Russell instead of keeping Valtteri, or how bad the car was in 2022, all of those things added up to what is pretty clear, is a major crisis in the career of Lewis Hamilton.

“It all began then, the mistake Michael Masi made to restart the race when he did and Toto Wolff not doing enough to defend the situation on the behalf of Lewis. Toto was very much walking on behalf of Mercedes, no surprise there.

“But from Lewis’ perspective, that should have been fought right to the end. And still today you think ‘how on earth did they get away with that?’ A complete breach of the sporting regulations and a moment that lost a guy a world championship. It’s unbelievable really, when he’d led the whole race.

“That is still taking its toll, even today, for sure.”