Lewis Hamilton's first season with Ferrari has been plagued by frustrations, with a nightmare performance in Brazil. After a damaged car and another double retirement, Hamilton voiced his disappointment, reflecting on the challenges faced by the Italian team this season.
The seven-time world champion suffered yet another double retirement for Ferrari on Sunday, with both drivers failing to score points.
Hamilton, in his first season with Ferrari after leaving Mercedes, was involved in a collision at the start of the race with Carlos Sainz of Williams and Franco Colapinto of Alpine, severely damaging his car’s floor and front wing.
Stewards handed Hamilton a five-second penalty for the incident with Colapinto, but after serving the penalty, the Briton retired on lap 37 due to the damage.
Meanwhile, teammate Charles Leclerc also had to retire after a three-way collision that saw Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli punt him out of the race. McLaren's Oscar Piastri was blamed for the incident, adding to Ferrari’s woes.
In an emotional interview with Sky Sports, Hamilton said, "This is a nightmare, I've been living it for a while. The flip between the dream of driving for this amazing team and then the nightmare of the results that we've had, the ups and downs. It’s challenging."
Despite the setback, Hamilton vowed to keep pushing, saying, "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."
Ferrari’s struggles continue
This marked the third time this season that Ferrari had failed to score points with both drivers. Despite joining the team with high expectations, Hamilton’s performance has been far from what he had hoped for, with his Shanghai sprint win in March being his only success. He has yet to finish on the podium in 21 races since switching to Ferrari.
Team frustration
The double retirement leaves Ferrari four points behind Red Bull and a 36-point deficit to Mercedes in the constructors' standings. The team’s hopes for a strong finish to the season are dwindling, especially with McLaren having already clinched the championship for the second year in a row.
During the race, Hamilton complained that his car was lacking downforce and unstable, describing the handling as "pretty disastrous" through the corners. Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur also admitted that it was hard to find any positives from the race.
"In sprint qualifying, we got a decent result, in the sprint race the pace was good, and qualifying went well with Charles," Vasseur said.
"But it’s been a very tough Sunday. I had the feeling that, at least with Charles, we were in a good place, but we paid the price for a collision between Antonelli and Piastri, which is very harsh for him and the team," Vasseur added.
Ferrari faces a difficult task in the remaining races, with hopes of achieving podium finishes fading as the season nears its conclusion.
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Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 24th July, covering the latest developments you need to know.
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