Hamilton living in a Ferrari ‘nightmare’ as ‘dream’ move takes horror turn

Retiring from the Brazilian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton says he is living in a “nightmare” with Ferrari as the results are just not coming for the seven-time World Champion.

Hamilton suffered race-ending damage when he clashed with Franco Colapinto as he tried to make up positions having fallen to 17th at the start, and retired his SF-25 after serving a five-second penalty for causing the collision. It was the end of a disappointing weekend for the Briton.

Lewis Hamilton: From a dream to a nightmare

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Although Hamilton was in the points in Saturday’s Sprint as he raced from 11th on the grid to seventh in the short 24-lap race, his hopes of a better performance in the grand prix were dashed when he qualified down in 13th place.

Lamenting “you can’t overtake” at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, he told the media at the track that he was “not expecting anything” in the grand prix, adding: “It’s another write-off weekend I guess.”

Little did he realise how bad it would get.

Lining up 13th, Hamilton dropped to 17th at the start with a bit of help from a whack from his predecessor at Ferrari, Carlos Sainz. As he tried to recover, the Briton collided with Colapinto and broke his front wing.

Adding to his troubles, the stewards ruled Hamilton was responsible and handed him a five-second penalty.

Although Hamilton tried to continue, he retired his Ferrari after serving his penalty to at least ensure that didn’t carry over to a grid penalty at the next race in Las Vegas.

“I mean this is a nightmare,” he told Sky F1. “Been living here for a while.

“Definitely 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.”

What could go wrong in Brazil, did go wrong for Lewis Hamilton…#F1 pic.twitter.com/3tA47JWfVP

— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) November 10, 2025

But while Hamilton was notably downbeat on Sunday, the 40-year-old vowed to shrug it off and came back stronger at the next race in Las Vegas.

“But tomorrow I’ll get back up,” he continued. “I’ll keep training, 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.”

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The Briton was a bit more upbeat when he spoke with Viaplay as he concedes the weekend wasn’t a lost cause for Ferrari, despite Charles Leclerc also retiring. After all, the Monegasque driver showed pace by qualifying up in third place.

“It would be wrong to say that there are no positives at all,” Hamilton said. “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.”

Lewis Hamilton faces third head-to-head defeat in four years

Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix was a case of what could go wrong, did go wrong for Lewis Hamilton. Worse yet, it was a snapshot of his debut season with Ferrari.

Although there have been moments where Hamilton has looked to be finding form with the SF-25, those have been few and far between, and all too often followed by qualifying struggles and race drama.

It’s not what the seven-time World Champion has grown to expect.

Heading into the final three races of the championship, a triple-header that includes Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, Hamilton is on course lose his head-to-head battle with Charles Leclerc as he trails his teammate by 66 points with 83 still in play.

It would be only the fourth time in Hamilton’s 19-year career that he has come off second best against a teammate. But perhaps more worryingly, it would be the third time in just four years that it has happened as Hamilton lost out to George Russell at Mercedes in 2022 and 2024.

Although the 40-year-old has insisted time and again that he still has what it takes to beat the best in Formula 1, his recent numbers suggest overwise.

Should Hamilton finish out his debut season with Ferrari without a Grand Prix podium on the board, it would be his first year since joining the sport in 2007 that he has not stood among the top three.

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