Lewis Hamilton says he has ‘a lot going on in the background’ after another tough race

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) – A day after calling himself “useless,” Lewis Hamilton said he’s facing issues “in the background” after another difficult Formula 1 race.

Hamilton finished 12th Sunday, the same place he’d qualified the day before, a result which had prompted him to call himself “absolutely useless” and suggest Ferrari might consider changing drivers.

His race was a world away from teammate Charles Leclerc, who was disappointed with fourth after starting on pole.

“When you have a feeling, you have a feeling. There’s a lot going on in the background that is not great,” Hamilton told British broadcaster Sky Sports after the race when asked to explain his comments from a day before. Asked if he’d lost his love of racing, Hamilton said no.

In response to a question about seemingly being forced off the track by old rival Max Verstappen, a standout moment in an otherwise largely quiet race for Hamilton, he said: “I don’t really remember it, to be honest.”

It was a frustrating day overall for Ferrari as Leclerc lost pace in the second half of the race and went from fighting for the win to dropping off the podium altogether after a hard-fought battle with George Russell of Mercedes.

In a lengthy radio message, Leclerc suggested Ferrari was not listening to him in an “incredibly frustrating” situation and that the car had become “undriveable.”

After the race, though, Leclerc said he’d been mistaken.

“I spoke too quickly, I guess,” he told Sky Sports, and said he’d been informed after the race that there had been a problem with his car’s chassis.