Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton has opened up about his opening lap incidents, the potential of the SF-25, the upcoming race in Las Vegas, and his expectations for 2026 following his disappointing retirement from the F1 São Paulo GP on Sunday.
The seven-time world champion had failed to make it to the final segment of qualifying, leaving him to start the race from P13 on the grid. Meanwhile, his teammate Charles Leclerc found himself up in third place.
Despite Hamilton’s strong launch, the first-lap chaos resulted in Carlos Sainz making contact with the Ferrari’s rear wheel, and the Brit dropped down the order.
Unfortunately, the 40-year-old then misjudged an overtake and ran into the back of Franco Colapinto’s Alpine. He limped back to the pits to have the damaged front wing changed.
The long stop put Hamilton to the back of the field, as Ferrari confirmed over the radio that there was lasting damage to the floor. On top of that, the stewards decided to hit him with a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with the Argentinian driver.
Ferrari finally instructed Hamilton to box and retire the car after 37 laps, adding to their challenging day at Interlagos. Owing to the double DNF, they have now dropped 36 points behind Mercedes and four points behind Red Bull in the Constructors’ standings with just three rounds to go.
What went down on the first lap
Speaking in the print media pen after the race, Lewis Hamilton shared his insights into the separate incidents he had with Sainz and Colapinto whilst navigating the Lap 1 mayhem in the midfield.
Stating that he was unsure how he had received a slight tag from Sainz at Turn 1 of the F1 São Paulo GP, Hamilton revealed that the integrity of his SF-25 was compromised from that very moment.
“I don’t really know what happened at Turn 1 [with Sainz]. But obviously, [it’s] not great to be hit. And after that the car was just gone.”
The 105-time race winner also elaborated on how he ended up tapping the rear of the Alpine and losing his front wing as he attempted to overtake Colapinto on the start-finish straight.
“I thought he [Colapinto] made a mistake out of the last corner. So then I got a good tow and as I started to pull out, I felt like he moved at the same time and I just clipped him.”
With regard to the damage his SF-25 had sustained and how difficult it was to keep the unstable car on the track, Hamilton disclosed that the windy conditions and the loss of downforce further compounded his struggles at Interlagos.
“I wasn’t struggling to tell them, just let them know why I was struggling. It’s a bit gustier today as well, but the lack of rear end I was having through the corner is pretty disastrous.”
Hamilton believes there’s light at the end of the tunnel
In spite of the tough qualifying and the disheartening end to his Sunday at the São Paulo GP, Lewis Hamilton attempted to take away some positives from the weekend. He commended Leclerc for dragging the tricky SF-25 to the second row on Saturday and acknowledged the underlying potential of the car.
Moreover, the Brit maintained an optimistic stance and proclaimed that they would continue to push forward. He also held onto the belief that the adversities they are encountering now would finally usher in an era of success for the historic Italian team.
“It’s obviously a disaster, a stress, and a disappointment for everyone in the team. But I’m trying to keep my head above water and trying to remain positive.
“Charles [Leclerc] did a great job in qualifying. So there is some performance in our car and I agree, at this point I just have to believe that there’s something to come out of all these hardships that we’ve been going through.
“I’m sure that we’re destined for something positive in future and maybe we’re getting all our bad luck out of the way this year. But we won’t give up; we’ll keep pushing.”
Hamilton hopeful about 2026
In terms of Ferrari being the second force in Las Vegas in 2024 and whether they can replicate such a level of performance this season, Lewis Hamilton claimed that he is confident about bouncing back in the upcoming races.
“I hope we can. We’ll come back fighting in the next races. There’s still points on the table, so that will be our mantra.”
Asked what his hopes are for the 2026 F1 season, Hamilton refused to speculate where Ferrari would emerge in the pecking order as new technical regulations come into effect. Nonetheless, he added that the entire team is concentrating its efforts on delivering a competitive car and that he is quite optimistic about everyone putting their best foot forward.
“I never expect anything except for us to just give our best, always. I know everyone’s working as hard as they can in the background to make sure that we start on the right foot next year; I have no idea where we will be, but keeping everything crossed, hoping for the best.
“Again, I don’t ever expect anything except that we’re just going to turn up and give absolutely everything. I’m pretty hopeful for better weekends [ahead].”
