‘Michael Jordan never said he was useless’ - Toto Wolff on Lewis Hamilton’s replacement claims

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff thinks it was wrong of Lewis Hamilton to say Ferrari should replace him in Hungary, adding: "Did you ever hear Michael Jordan say that about himself?"

Hamilton was dumped out of Q2 in Budapest, finishing 12th while team-mate Charles Leclerc defeated the McLarens to pole. Coming at the end of a difficult first half of the season for the Scuderia, Hamilton slammed himself for his qualifying form.

“Oh it's me every time. Absolutely useless," Hamilton said. "The team has no problem, you've seen the car is on pole, so we probably need to change driver.”

Mercedes chief Wolff, with whom Hamilton took six of his seven world championship, felt it was wrong of his former driver to let the heat of the moment get to him and call for Ferrari to replace him - and revealed he had told the 40-year-old so himself.

"I thought that was wrong to say that, and I told him that the same evening and again the next day," Wolff told select media, including Motorsport.com. "Because he's still the GOAT [greatest of all time]. What I said is, did you ever hear Michael Jordan say about himself that he's useless and that you change the player? No.

Former NBA star Michael Jordan

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

"You're wearing your heart on your sleeve, which is good, which is a fantastic character trait of his - That he speaks his emotion. And that makes him also the superstar he is. He has those emotions and doesn't hide.

"But that one, I felt was just such a bad moment for him that he said that, because it's simply not true. If he retires, he's still the GOAT. He's going to retire and nobody is going to ever know that he was at Ferrari at the end. Who thinks about the Schumacher and Mercedes time? That isn't relevant for Schumacher's career, so..."

"Hamilton can still win a world championship"

Lewis Hamilton's first year at Ferrari has been one of ups and downs so far, but Wolff hasn't counted him out of picking up further wins in his career.

"If Ferrari was having the best car, I think, Lewis, with his experience of scoring all year long can win a world championship."

When put to him that Hamilton didn't look particularly happy at Ferrari, Wolff responded: "There were moments of unhappiness with us [too], many times.

"All the reasons he had to go to Ferrari are still valid today. He needed a change of environment, and we needed a change of environment. We weren't as competitive as we would have wished. Ferrari looked better. Every racing driver wants to race with Ferrari. He likes the colour red anyway. The deal that was on the table was very good.