Hamilton's self-assessment of 2025 F1 season is "nonsense", says Russell

George Russell reckons Lewis Hamilton was talking “nonsense” when he claimed Ferrari should “change driver” after disappointing in qualifying for the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Hamilton suffered a Q2 elimination last time out in Budapest, before finishing outside of the points the following day, continuing his difficult debut campaign for Ferrari as the seven-time world champion has been regularly beaten by team-mate Charles Leclerc.

But Russell, who spent the last three seasons as Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate, believes that was the 40-year-old’s emotions simply getting the better of him.

“Of course he's talking nonsense when he says something like that because he's the greatest driver of all time,” said Russell.

“I think in a situation like that, when you go from the race track and you're in front of the media within 10 minutes, you have all of these emotions. When you have a bad day, that's how you feel. When you have a good day, everything changes.

“He's still an exceptional driver. He obviously won the sprint straight away at the start of the year in China. He's clearly still got it. Formula 1 is not an easy sport, and especially if the team is not performing at the highest level, that compounds the issue.

“And of course, Charles is an amazing driver too. I think right now, 14 races down, probably every driver bar two [title rivals Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris] is looking forward to 2026 and for a fresh opportunity to fight for a championship. And for someone like Lewis, that's what he lives for. Not just get in at once.”

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, George Russell, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, on the grid

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

That China race has so far been an anomaly for Hamilton this year though, with him sixth in the championship, 42 points off Leclerc and yet to score a grand prix podium - compared to the Monegasque’s five.

Hamilton has therefore been downbeat about his campaign thus far, claiming “there's been so much pressure in this first half of the season” that “it's not been the most enjoyable”.

So on Thursday during media day for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, the Ferrari driver revealed enjoying himself again is the focus for the final 10 rounds of 2025.

“I think for anyone in whatever career you're in, if you're not enjoying what you're doing, then why are you doing it,” said Hamilton.

“There can often be so much noise that you can lose sight of what's really, really important. So that's why I'm saying I just really want to focus on getting back to that enjoyment.

“I've joined the team that I've always dreamed of driving for and there's been so much noise around that it's kind of clouded us from getting to enjoy it.

“So now it's about kind of moving those things aside and just getting back to focusing on the pure love of what we do.”