A lot has changed within a week for Lewis Hamilton. After earning the Driver of the Day honours following his superb seventh-place performance in the Belgian Grand Prix, the seven-time world champion then suffered his second-worst outing of the 2025 Formula 1 season in the Hungarian Grand Prix (P12). Because of this, Hamilton, who slipped to sixth in the drivers’ standings with 109 points, has cut a downbeat figure heading into the summer break.
In contrast, the driver who took his Mercedes seat, Kimi Antonelli, comes into the break in a lighter mood following his P10 performance in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Lando Norris won at Hungaroring, beating teammate Oscar Piastri by a slim margin. However, despite winning his third race in his last four, the British driver sounded far from being content.
Here are some of the latest Formula 1 2025 updates, courtesy of SBOTOP.
Hamilton makes painful admission after recent struggles
Lewis Hamilton had a rough outing in Hungaroring, as he dropped out in Q2 and failed to score points in the actual race last Sunday. Considering his teammate Charles Leclerc took pole position with the same SF-25, Hamilton was visibly upset after Q2.
But Hamilton eventually changed his tone after the race, saying that he still loves racing and hadn’t lost his love for the sport. Overall, it was considered a bad day in the office for the seven-time world champion, and Hamilton will likely use the summer break to recharge his batteries.
Despite his recent struggles, Hamilton is a huge reason why Ferrari sit second in the constructors’ standings with 260 points, though they are 299 points adrift of McLaren. The British international is 42 points adrift of Leclerc.
Hamilton also received some words of assurance from Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicalli, which could boost his confidence ahead of the later rounds.
“First of all, Lewis is a jewel, he is an incredible athlete, so no matter if it is a difficult moment, he will react, and I’m pretty sure he will show the reason why he is here,” Domenicalli said about Hamilton.
“He wants to achieve his eighth title, and he will triumph again. So, stay with Lewis and he will do a great race, and be very, very strong after the summer (break),” he concluded.
Antonelli finally breaks his drought
On the other hand, Kimi Antonelli left Hungaroring a happy man after he secured his first points finish since taking his maiden podium in the Canadian Grand Prix last June. Before this, the Mercedes rookie had two DNFs in the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone and a P16 outing in Spa.
His weekend in Hungary had been made difficult following a mistake in the qualifying last Saturday, with a deleted lap time due to track limits dropping Antonelli from P11 to P15 on the grid. Despite an unfavourable position, Antonelli kept his head up with a strong drive and ensured that both Silver Arrows cars finished in the Top 10, with teammate George Russell in P3. Starting with the hard tyres for 22 laps and executing a one-stop strategy surely helped the youngster draw praise from boss Toto Wolff.
“Today hanging him out there for tyre survival was another part of the development that he needs to go through,” Wolff said. “He scored a point, he defended against Hadjar behind, and I’m satisfied with that. Hopefully, we’re going to get strong in the second half of the year.”
Antonelli’s point and Russell’s podium kept Mercedes in the chase for second in the constructors’ championship.
Norris is far from satisfied despite latest win
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri continue to go toe-to-toe for this year’s drivers’ championship, with only a nine-point gap between the two Papaya drivers heading into the summer break. Despite winning the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend, Norris believes he still has a long way to go, considering his “pretty average” start to the 2025 campaign.
“Prior to that, (it was) not good enough, so in a harsh way, I would say I was pretty average before then. Since then, I think things have been a lot stronger,” Norris said. “I still want more, still need to be a lot better, and I’m not as good as where I would like to be, but a lot of improvements have been made.”
Expect more fireworks from Norris and Piastri in the later rounds, but either way, Andrea Stella and Zak Brown are pleased to know that the Formula 1 2025 odds expect them to win their second consecutive constructors’ title.
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