Lewis Hamilton says he's 'useless' and suggests a driver change at Ferrari after teammate takes pole

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Lewis Hamilton called himself “absolutely useless” and suggested Ferrari should change drivers after he qualified 12th for the Hungarian Grand Prix and teammate Charles Leclerc took pole position.

It was a new low in a difficult first season with Ferrari for seven-time Formula 1 champion Hamilton, who qualified outside the top 10 for the second race in a row.

"I’m useless, absolutely useless," Hamilton told British broadcaster Sky Sports.

“The team have no problem. You’ve seen the car’s on pole. So they probably need to change driver.”

Hamilton had said “every time, every time” over the radio after he was eliminated in the second part of qualifying. That signified that “it's me every time,” he clarified to Sky later.

Hamilton had earlier seemed set to qualify 13th, and he was only promoted to 12th after the second part of qualifying had finished. That was because Kimi Antonelli's time was struck out after it was noticed the Mercedes rookie had gone outside the track limits.

It was the second week running that Hamilton had been frustrated with his qualifying performance. He qualified 18th for the sprint race in Belgium last week after a spin, and 16th for the Grand Prix when one of his times was struck out.

Still, Hamilton delivered one of his best drives of the year, cutting through the field on a wet track, and eventually finished seventh.

After a move from Mercedes which stunned F1 last year, Hamilton has yet to finish on the podium in a Grand Prix race with Ferrari, with a best finish of fourth.

He did win a sprint race in China in March, but a double disqualification for technical infringements on Hamilton and Leclerc's cars in the Chinese Grand Prix the next day required a time-consuming rethink of Ferrari's race setups.

Leclerc is fifth in the standings, only one position ahead of Hamilton, but has five podium finishes in 2005. In Sunday's race, he'll aim to give Ferrari its first F1 win since October.

Last week, Hamilton said it was “crunch time” and revealed he's been holding a series of meetings with Ferrari executives to discuss improvements and ensure he has more of a say in how the team develops its car for the sweeping regulation changes coming in 2026.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during the third free practice at the Hungaroring racetrack in Mogyorod, Hungary, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, ahead of the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain gets pushed back into his garage during the qualifying session for the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix at the Hungaroring racetrack in Mogyorod, Hungary, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (Anna Szilagyi/Pool Photo via AP)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain walks back to his pits after failing to complete during the qualifying session for the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix at the Hungaroring racetrack in Mogyorod, Hungary, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain walks back to his pits after failing to complete during the qualifying session for the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix at the Hungaroring racetrack in Mogyorod, Hungary, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain walks back to his pits after failing to complete during the qualifying session for the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix at the Hungaroring racetrack in Mogyorod, Hungary, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

A federal appeals panel on Thursday reversed a lower court decision that released former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from an immigration jail, bringing the government one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the Palestinian activist.

The three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t decide the key issue in Khalil’s case: whether the Trump administration’s effort to throw Khalil out of the U.S. over his campus activism and criticism of Israel is unconstitutional.

But in its 2-1 decision, the panel ruled a federal judge in New Jersey didn’t have jurisdiction to decide the matter at this time. Federal law requires the case to fully move through the immigration courts first, before Khalil can challenge the decision, they wrote.

“That scheme ensures that petitioners get just one bite at the apple — not zero or two,” the panel wrote. “But it also means that some petitioners, like Khalil, will have to wait to seek relief for allegedly unlawful government conduct.”

Thursday’s decision marked a major win for the Trump administration’s sweeping campaign to detain and deport noncitizens who joined protests against Israel.

Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security Department spokesperson, called the ruling “a vindication of the rule of law.”

In a statement, she said the department will “work to enforce his lawful removal order” and encouraged Khalil to “self-deport now before he is arrested, deported, and never given a chance to return.”

It was not clear whether the government would seek to detain Khalil, a legal permanent resident, again while his legal challenges continue.

In a statement distributed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Khalil called the appeals ruling “deeply disappointing."

“The door may have been opened for potential re-detainment down the line, but it has not closed our commitment to Palestine and to justice and accountability," he said. "I will continue to fight, through every legal avenue and with every ounce of determination, until my rights, and the rights of others like me, are fully protected.”

Baher Azmy, one of Khalil's lawyers, said the ruling was “contrary to rulings of other federal courts."

“Our legal options are by no means concluded, and we will fight with every available avenue,” he said.

The ACLU said the Trump administration cannot lawfully re-detain Khalil until the order takes formal effect, which won't happen while he can still immediately appeal.

Khalil’s lawyers can request that the panel's decision be set aside and the matter reconsidered by a larger group of judges on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, or they can go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

An outspoken leader of the pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia, Khalil was arrested last March. He then spent three months detained in a Louisiana immigration jail, missing the birth of his first child.

Federal officials have accused Khalil of leading activities “aligned to Hamas,” though they have not presented evidence to support the claim and have not accused him of criminal conduct. They also accused Khalil, 31, of failing to disclose information on his green card application.

The government justified the arrest under a seldom-used statute that allows for the expulsion of noncitizens whose beliefs are deemed to pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy interests.

In June, a federal judge in New Jersey ruled that justification would likely be declared unconstitutional and ordered Khalil released.

President Donald Trump's administration appealed that ruling, arguing the deportation decision should fall to an immigration judge, rather than a federal court.

Khalil has dismissed the allegations as “baseless and ridiculous,” framing his arrest and detention as a “direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.”

New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, said on social media Thursday that Khalil should remain free.

“Last year’s arrest of Mahmoud Khalil was more than just a chilling act of political repression, it was an attack on all of our constitutional rights,” Mamdani wrote on X. “Now, as the crackdown on pro-Palestinian free speech continues, Mahmoud is being threatened with rearrest. Mahmoud is free — and must remain free.”

Judge Arianna Freeman dissented Thursday, writing that her colleagues were holding Khalil to the wrong legal standard. Khalil, she wrote, is raising “now-or-never claims” that can be handled at the district court level, even though his immigration case isn't complete.

Both judges who ruled against Khalil, Thomas Hardiman and Stephanos Bibas, were Republican appointees. President George W. Bush appointed Hardiman to the 3rd Circuit, while Trump appointed Bibas. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, appointed Freeman.

The two-judge majority rejected Freeman's worry that their decision would leave Khalil with no remedy for unconstitutional immigration detention, even if he later can appeal.

“But our legal system routinely forces petitioners — even those with meritorious claims — to wait to raise their arguments," the judges wrote.

The decision comes as an appeals board in the immigration court system weighs a previous order that found Khalil could be deported to Algeria, where he maintains citizenship through a distant relative, or Syria, where he was born in a refugee camp to a Palestinian family.

His attorneys have said he faces mortal danger if forced to return to either country.

Associated Press writers Larry Neumeister and Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this story.

FILE - Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil holds a news conference outside Federal Court on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025 in Philadelphia (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)