Lewis Hamilton described his move to Ferrari as both a dream and a nightmare after another difficult weekend for the Italian team at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where both drivers retired from the race.
The seven-time world champion made contact with Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto at the start of Sunday’s (9 November 2025) race in São Paulo, damaging his car’s floor and front wing. Hamilton was handed a five-second penalty for the collision with Colapinto and eventually retired on lap 37 after serving the penalty.
His teammate, Charles Leclerc, also failed to finish after being hit in a three-car collision involving Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who was ultimately deemed responsible.
“This is a nightmare, I’ve been living it for a while,” Hamilton told Sky Sports. “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.
“Tomorrow I’ll get back up, keep training, and 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.”
The result marked the third time this season that Ferrari has failed to score points with either car, adding to what has become a frustrating campaign for Hamilton since joining the team from Mercedes earlier this year. Despite winning a sprint race in Shanghai in March, the Briton has yet to finish on the podium in 21 races.
Ferrari now sits fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, four points behind Red Bull and 36 behind Mercedes, with McLaren having already secured the title for the second consecutive year.
Hamilton complained during the race that his car was “lacking downforce and unstable,” calling the balance “pretty disastrous” through the corners.
Team principal Fred Vasseur admitted it was difficult to take any positives from the weekend. “In sprint qualifying we got a decent result, in the sprint race the pace was good and qualifying went well with Charles,” he 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.”
Follow us on
