Lewis Hamilton’s first year in red has been characterised by more heartbreak than heroism, and the São Paulo Grand Prix did little to break this pattern. Once again, the seven-time world champion was left stranded at the side of the metaphorical road, looking at the remains of what had once been a promising race weekend. However once again talk of a premature exit of Hamilton looms.
Ferrari’s long-awaited partnership with Hamilton was supposed to be a romantic revival — a British legend joining the scarlet dream. Instead, however, it has turned into something akin to an awkward blind date or a slow-motion car crash.
It’s been a season stuck between heaven and hell
When Hamilton first slipped into his Ferrari race suit, the Tifosi were ready to anoint him as the next Maranello messiah. The early signs offered a glimmer of hope: a sprint victory in the second race and the suggestion that perhaps the stars were aligning. But that hope has since been buried under a mountain of carbon fibre shards.
At 40, Hamilton isn’t fighting for podiums, but for survival. The São Paulo race added another grim chapter: clipped early in the Grand Prix, his Ferrari sustained damage to the front wing and floor. Though he persevered for a while, it soon became clear that he was driving a wounded beast. The inevitable retirement followed, leaving Hamilton despondent and muttering into his radio about ‘nightmares’ and ‘living in one for a while’.
A dream turned to dust
After the race, Hamilton’s reflections oscillated between the philosophical and the fed-up. “There’s been an oscillation between the dream of driving for this great team and the nightmare of the results,” he said, sounding like a man who’s been trapped in a peeling motivational poster. Ferrari were supposed to give him wings, not weigh him down. Perhaps he’d have been better off at Red Bull one might ask.
Yet somehow the Briton continues to find glimmers of optimism, at odds with Ferrari exit rumours once again emerging around the paddock.
“Tomorrow, I’ll get back up, keep training and keep working with the team,” he told Sky Sports. It’s the kind of brave face only a man who’s built an empire on resilience could maintain. He promised to “come back stronger for Vegas”, which, given the current trajectory, would mean that merely finishing the race would count as a comeback.
Ferrari’s house of mirrors
While Hamilton’s Ferrari faltered, Max Verstappen delivered another masterclass in managing chaos — starting from the pit lane and climbing to third place. The Dutchman’s rise from the depths must have felt like a cruel metaphor for Hamilton’s descent.
On F1 TV, Hamilton elaborated on the grim details. ‘After the impact, it felt like the rear suspension was broken, but they said it seemed fine,’ he recounted, before drifting into the mechanical fog of ‘transverse weight’ and ‘loss of downforce’. When a seven-time champion starts sounding like an engineer conducting an autopsy, you know the car is difficult to handle.
The numbers told their own story: a 30 to 40 per cent loss of downforce. “If you were driving at high speed, the thing would snap,” he explained. It’s easy to imagine how frustrating it must be to watch the car misbehaving like a hyperactive toddler. “I gave it everything I had,” Hamilton sighed, “but I had no chance.”
Another weekend to forget.
As the season draws to a close, Hamilton’s optimism seems more like a ritual than a realistic expectation. ‘This is definitely a weekend to forget,’ he admitted, still managing to praise the Ferrari crew for their dedication. ‘Everyone in the team gives their absolute best every week,’ he added, speaking like a man too professional to point fingers, though he may have had a few people in mind.
This isn’t his first early exit in 2025 and it likely won’t be his last. ‘Not finishing for the second time this year is truly awful,’ he said, apologising for his qualifying performance and the unfortunate chain of events. His sincerity is genuine — he has never lacked humility in defeat — but even the most patient champion can only smile through so many DNFs before questioning whether the universe has a sense of humour.
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Redemption, despair or retirement?
There’s still Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi, and a glimmer of hope. If Hamilton’s luck changes, he may be able to salvage some pride, if not points. However, the romance between Lewis and Ferrari has yet to find its rhythm, the dream of Maranello glory still flickers somewhere between the pit wall and the paddock hospitality tent.
Until then, Hamilton remains philosophical, talking about ‘getting up and trying again’, even as the nightmares persist. For Ferrari, it’s just another chapter in their endless saga of what might have been. For Hamilton, it’s a reminder that even the greatest champions can’t outrun fate, or a wobbly floor and a broken front wing.
Nevertheless, rumours are growing louder around the paddock that Hamilton may decide to cut his losses, with speculation mounting that the two parties will part ways by the end of the year. Ferrari’s patience may be wearing as thin as Hamilton’s optimism. Meanwhile, in the background, Oliver Bearman, who is currently impressing at Haas, could find himself fast-tracked into the seat sooner than expected.
Russell unfazed by Verstappen: “People thought Hamilton was unbeatable, too!”
MORE F1 NEWS – Stella reveals Piastri achilles heel struck again in Brazil
McLaren’s team boss Andrea Stella has been repeating a narrative to explain why his Australian driver struggled so much in Austin and Mexico City. He claims Oscar Piastri’s driving style hampers him when the track conditions are low grip.
The team had encouraged him to adapt his driving style to resolve the issue in Mexico, although Oscar was unsure of how well the experiment had gone. “It’s difficult to say ultimately, I think we certainly tried a lot of different things, but at the back with cars as well, so it was difficult to kind of get a read on whether what I was changing with my driving was working that well or not,” Piastri said in the media pen.
The problem for the McLaren driver is that Las Vegas is next on the F1 calendar where the cold desert night temperatures will again see little grip in Sin City. The team’s expectations for Brazil were much higher for their young driver as the surface in Sao Paulo is abrasive often creating high tyre degradation.
São Paulo circuit more abrasive
And this year the degradation of the rubber was expected to be even higher,. Given the thousands of grooves cut into the track surface to improve drainage after 2024’s rain soaked Grand Prix. This is why Pirelli brought tyre compounds a step harder than last year, an unusual step given they have been generally selecting compounds this season which are softer to promote more pit stops.
It all began so well for the Australian who hasn’t been on the podium since his win in Zandvoort, he was milli seconds behind his team mate in practice with Lando Norris topping the time sheets. Yet come Sprint qualifying the two tenths gap to his team mate re-appeared and it is this which has defined much of Oscar’s woes in recent race weekend.
The Sprint was a disaster for Piastri again as early in the race as he pushed harder he hit the kerb in turn two by mistake, sending his McLaren hurtling into the barrier amidst showers of carbon fibre. He could only make P4 in Grand Prix qualifying and was now almost three tenths away from Norris who claimed his sixth pole position of the season…READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
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