Lewis Hamilton 'been living in a nightmare for a while' after F1 Brazil GP retirement

Lewis Hamilton was extremely short of words after his “nightmare” result at the Brazilian Grand Prix, as the seven-time Formula 1 world champion retired midway through.

The Ferrari driver lasted 37 laps due to suspected floor damage after separate incidents with Carlos Sainz and Franco Colapinto while fighting in the midfield at race start.

Hamilton first received a slight tag from Sainz at Turn 1 before a bigger incident along the start-finish straight, as he misjudged an overtake by clattering into the back of Colapinto.

It tore off the Ferrari’s front wing and resulted in a five-second penalty for Hamilton, who had already endured a disappointing weekend with seventh in the sprint before a Q2 exit in grand prix qualifying.

But the season as a whole has been underwhelming for Hamilton, as the new-for-2025 Ferrari driver is sixth in the championship, without a grand prix podium and is 66 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.

“It’s a nightmare,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 in an interview which lasted just 35 seconds. “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.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

“The ups and downs. It’s challenging. 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 to recover.”

Leclerc also had a disappointing race because he retired on lap six after being hit by Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes, which was sandwiched between the Ferrari and Oscar Piastri’s McLaren at Turn 1.

But until then Leclerc was going strong, having qualified third for Sunday’s contest after finishing fifth in the sprint race, and that’s why Hamilton still thinks it isn’t all doom-and-gloom.

“It would be wrong to say that there are no positives at all,” Hamilton told Viaplay. “If you look at Charles’ performance in qualifying, it shows that the car does have some pace in it.

“But we are just really having to fight through those hardships at the moment. I have to believe that these hardships lead to… I believe there is something extraordinary up ahead in my life and in my destiny.

“I truly still believe in this team and what we can achieve together. I just have to keep pushing and keep giving them everything I can.”