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Lewis Hamilton continues to insist there will be an end to his Formula 1 ‘nightmare’, which deepened at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix as Ferrari floundered at Interlagos
It was supposed to be the ultimate Formula 1 partnership, the sport’s most successful driver ever joining its most iconic team. But after another chastening experience at a Grand Prix on Sunday, this time in Sao Paulo, Lewis Hamilton admitted: “This is a nightmare and I’ve been living it for a while.”
While Ferrari have won more titles than any other team in F1 history, none of them have come recently. Their last success was in 2008 when they won the constructors’ championship. Hamilton was 23, in his second F1 season and won the drivers’ title that year, the first of seven.
Now aged 40, he is not naïve enough to have assumed that his presence alone would suddenly kick a sleeping giant into action. But he would have had some expectations of glory, especially given Ferrari pushed McLaren all the way in the teams’ championship in 2024, losing out only on the final day in Abu Dhabi.
It took him just two races to record his first win, victory from pole in the Shanghai Sprint race back in March. Since then, though, the results have rarely been encouraging. Much was made of Hamilton’s first winless F1 season back in 2022 with Mercedes – this year he hasn’t even reached the podium in a Grand Prix.
His weekend in Brazil, the country which has adopted him as one of their own, was another write-off. After qualifying outside the top 10 for the Sprint, Hamilton at least managed to salvage two points. But then he suffered another Q2 exit and couldn’t make things right on Sunday.
He hit into the back of Franco Colapinto’s Alpine on the opening lap, a crash for which he was deemed by the stewards to have been “wholly responsible”. A five-second time penalty was meaningless in the end as, although he pitted for a new front wing, the damage done to other parts of his car was enough to force his retirement on lap 40.
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It was a thoroughly miserable day all around for Ferrari, who also saw Charles Leclerc fail to finish after Kimi Antonelli was punted into his car by Oscar Piastri, ripping off the front-left tyre. The Scuderia have now slipped to fourth in the constructors’ standings, behind both Mercedes and Red Bull.
“This weekend has been disastrous and disappointing for everyone,” said Hamilton glumly, having apologised to colleagues for his poor qualifying showing. “I am trying to keep my head above water and remain positive.
“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.”
Those were the words of a man who is clearly counting down the days until he never has to drive the Ferrari SF-25 again. Not that he will have much respite – new cars and engines in the 2026 season mean a much earlier start to pre-season than usual, with the first days of testing taking place in January.
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Hamilton will have turned 41 by then and time is running out for him to have the chance to finally win that elusive eighth F1 title. But whether it is through optimism or just sheer denial, he continues to insist: “We will not give up.
“Maybe we are getting all our bad luck out of the way this year. Who knows? At this point, I have to believe there is something to come out of all these hardships that we have been going through. I’m sure we’re destined for something positive in the future.”
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