Lewis Hamilton has described his first season so far at Ferrari as “a nightmare” after a “weekend to forget” at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Hamilton retired for just the second time in 2025 but it came after being knocked out in the second part of Sprint Qualifying on Friday and again in main Qualifying on Saturday.
Starting from 13th, he made contact with Carlos Sainz at the first corner which dropped him towards the back. At the end of the first lap, Hamilton ran into the back of Alpine’s Franco Colapinto on the main straight.
The two incidents gave Hamilton serious floor damage and he was also handed a five-second time penalty for hitting Colapinto.
Running in 18th, Ferrari decided to retire Hamilton on Lap 39 to end a dismal Interlagos weekend.
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Lewis Hamilton was gutted after he suffered damage, an early pit stop, a penalty and early retirement in Brazil
“This is a nightmare, I’ve been living it for a while,” the seven-time world champion told Sky Sports F1 when asked about the latest setback in his first Ferrari season.
“The flip between the dream of driving for this amazing team and then the nightmare of results that we’ve had, the ups and downs, it’s challenging.
“But tomorrow I’ll get back up, I’ll keep training, I’ll keep working with the team. I really wanted to get them good points this weekend but I’ll come back as strong as I can in the next race and try and recover it.”
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Hamilton cut a dejected figure after qualifying P13 for the Sao Paulo GP
Hamilton has also lacked raw pace compared to team-mate Charles Leclerc for much of the season, with the Monegasque qualifying third for Sunday’s race before being an innocent bystander in a collision between Oscar Piastri and Kimi Antonelli.
Ferrari have dropped to fourth in the Constructors’ Championship and are 36 points behind second-placed Mercedes.
Hamilton added: “This is a weekend to forget. It’s a shame because I love Brazil.
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Hamilton was eliminated from Q2 at the Sao Paulo GP
“Every single person in this team turn up every week and give it their best. To turn up with nothing and not finish a race for the second time this year feels devastating.
“I feel terrible for the team. I’m sorry for my part in Qualifying for putting myself in that position.”
Vasseur: Leclerc not at fault for restart incident
The big drama of the race came early on when Piastri dived up the inside of Antonelli and Leclerc in the battle for second, behind eventual race-winner Lando Norris, into Turn 1 but made contact with the Mercedes driver.
That collision meant Antonelli went spearing into the side of Leclerc, whose front left tyre fell off the car and forced him to pull over at the end of the next straight.
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Charles Leclerc’s Sao Paulo race comes to an abrupt end as his front wheel is torn off after a race restart collision with Kimi Antonelli
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur said: “It was a tough weekend, at least a tough Sunday.
“I had the feeling that with Charles we were in a good place, he had a good start, a good restart, he took margin on the kerb and we are paying the full price of the crash between Antonelli and Piastri.
“I don’t care about who was at fault between Piastri and Antonelli, but for sure it was not Charles.
“It’s tough because in this fight you can’t give up points. When you are giving up points, you are giving points also to the others. It’s the double penalty and in our case it’s very harsh.”
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Karun Chandhok and Jamie Chadwick analyse the opening lap collision between Oscar Piastri, Antonelli and Leclerc as well as reaction from the drivers
Ferrari will go winless for the first time since 2021 if Hamilton or Leclerc are unable to claim a victory in the last three rounds in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Vasseur struggled to take any positives from Brazil but was encouraged by the team’s turnaround on Saturday with both drivers scoring points and Leclerc qualifying third.
He said: “I would say that if I have to take a positive part of the weekend, it’s the pace in Qualifying, the recovery, even the start, the restart. We were fighting, looking at the front, not looking at the guy who is behind us, trying to attack with a positive attitude.
“This is for sure good. But when you are at this point of the championship, you are more focused on points than on potential.”
Formula 1’s thrilling title race continues with the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 21-23, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
