In February, Lewis Hamilton was full of smiles, eager to win a championship for Ferrari. Six months later, he sounds defeated.

Despite Lewis Hamilton’s recent comments referring to himself as “absolutely useless”, Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur defended the seven-time World Champion, saying he is “frustrated but not demotivated.

Hamilton raced to 12th position—the worst result of his Ferrari career—after starting from the same place on a weekend in which teammate Charles Leclerc claimed pole position and led swathes of the race until a mysterious and undiagnosed issue slowed his car.