Lewis Hamilton showed his class after hitting a new low at the Hungarian Grand Prix, taking time to stop and sign an autograph for a young fan in the paddock on his way to the media pen. The 40-year-old was eliminated in Q2 at the Hungaroring, while team-mate Charles Leclerc stormed to pole position. The Hungaroring has typically been a happy hunting ground for Hamilton, who has scored a record eight victories at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Many consider this to be the seven-time world champion's strongest circuit, alongside Silverstone. It was, therefore, a huge shock when he was bumped out in Q2 on Saturday afternoon. His team-mate, however, worked miracles. Leclerc declared the Hungaroring to be his worst track on the calendar on Thursday, but the Monegasque racer rose above the mighty McLarens to punch his, and Ferrari's, first pole position of the campaign. The moods on the two sides of the Prancing Horse's garages couldn't have been starker in their contrast.

Despite his despair, Hamilton took the time to make a young fan's day on his way back through the paddock. The F1 legend, with his helmet still on, signed a cap for a supporter.

Unfortunately, when he made it to the media pen, the Brit was at a low point. “Oh, it's me every time," he said. “Yeah, useless, absolutely useless.” When asked if it was a team problem, he fired back: “The team has no problem, you've seen the car is on pole, so we probably need to change driver.”

While Hamilton was distraught, team principal Fred Vasseur was keen to avoid an overreaction. The Frenchman instead looked at Leclerc's Q2 lap times, with the pole-sitter only just squeezing through while his team-mate fell below the cut line.

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"It's better to start from pole in Budapest than P11, and it will be difficult, but you cannot compare P1 and P11, you need to compare one tenth in Q2," he explained. "This is more the issue.

"Charles was not far away to be out in Q2, and you need to keep this in mind in your analysis of the day. But it is what it is. We have to do a better job to not be exposed in Q1 and Q2, and the fact we had to use extra sets in Q1, it was not a good start to the session and then you have one set for Q2."

Hamilton will now have an opportunity to prove his doubters wrong on race day. In Belgium, the Brit opted for a pit lane start but had climbed to seventh in the running order by the time the wet-to-dry transition had played out. In Hungary, overtaking opportunities are sparse, so he'll be relying on more clever strategies from Ferrari to ascend the order.