The stage was set for an extraordinary race at the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, which over the years has hosted some classics. Both Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have made spectacular comeback drives at the venue, and with both set to start at the back of the grid after engine penalties, the excitement in the paddock was palpable as the lights went out to start the Grand Prix.
In fact, it was Lewis Hamilton who made the best progress, charging forward, and by turn three he was alongside his teammate who had started P14. At the start of lap 2, Hamilton was making a move on fellow countryman Ollie Bearman of Haas when he left the track at turn three.
Hamilton retained the position, and it was several laps later before the stewards noted the incident, and several laps more before it was upgraded to an “investigation.” In the meantime, Hamilton had failed to make further progress after his lightning start, losing out to Verstappen from behind.
Tyre Pressures and the Erratic Call
Team principal Fred Vasseur revealed after the race that he believed the team may have set the tyre pressure too high,which not only explained Hamilton’s rapid progress on the early laps, but also why his progression stalled, leaving him just a second ahead of Bearman on the track.
Ferrari then told their driver to give the place back as the stewards were investigating a breach of Article B1.8.6 of the FIA F1 Regulations and Appendix L of the International Sporting Code, “leaving the track and gaining an advantage.” The standard penalty for such a misdemeanour is a ten-second time penalty, although this can be reduced to five seconds if there are mitigating circumstances.
Lewis duly accepted his fate, handing back the place to Bearman, although with his tyres now “ballooning”—as Hamilton described it—he began losing positions and was begging for a change of tyres much earlier than the rest of the field.Having handed back the position, the stewards eventually revealed “no further investigation was required.”
The Stewards’ Verdict vs. Ferrari’s Radio
To everyone watching together with the Sky F1 team, it appeared the stewards’ decision was based on the call from Ferrari. However, it wasn’t. In fact, the stewards decided that Hamilton was not in the wrong and therefore Ferrari’s call for him to hand back the position was erroneous.
The published opinion was as follows: ”The Stewards reviewed in-car video evidence and determined that Car 44 was attempting an overtake on Car 87 at Turn 5. In defending the position, Car 87 moved to the right and Car 44 was pushed off the track to avoid a collision.
“Car 44 clearly had the momentum for the overtake and gained no advantage by going off the track. We also noted that the position was subsequently given back by Car 44. We therefore took no further action.”
So Hamilton did in fact avoid a penalty because he was in the right, as far as the high-speed move at turn three was deemed legitimate. Ferrari finished the Grand Prix with Charles Leclerc demoted one spot to P8 after suffering a post-chequered-flag five-second penalty, with Lewis Hamilton one place behind him.
Struggle for Temperature in the SF-26
Both drivers were subdued during their media duties, a far cry from the hype of Mexico a week earlier. Fred Vasseur explained to assembled media: “It was probably a question of tyre pressures. You cannot have a first lap like that and then not pay some price for it.”
“I don’t want to speak in details of technical stuff. But for sure it’s a lot about tyre temperature, and in certain phases of the race or certain conditions we are struggling more. And yeah, there was a huge gap between the beginning of the stint of Charles on softs and the last couple of laps, when he was almost as fast as the guys with new tyres.”
Clearly, Charles Leclerc’s tyres were pressurised differently from Hamilton’s, as his start was sluggish and he failed to make much progress. “The execution was okay, but the pace in the first stint was horrendous,” said the Monegasque.”Particularly at the start, we had so much struggle getting those tyres up to temperature, it’s unbelievable.
“It’s just undriveable. Lewis definitely found a way because he had an incredible start, but for me, it was just like driving on ice. Later on, I had the pace, but we had very little free air, and we also lost a lot of time in the straights.”
Gambles on Slicks and Late Rain
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, struggling on his tyres, was the first driver to call the team to fit slick tyres to his car. The call was made twice from Lewis, but the feedback from the strategy group was that turn 12 remained too wet, and being the crucial traction zone for the long final run up the hill, it was too vital for lap time.
Eventually, the team relented and Hamilton was the first onto the soft Pirelli compound. His pace was lightning, even on the out lap—his middle sector was purple (the fastest)—something which started a domino effect as the other teams realised the slick tyre would operate in the damp.
Hamilton explained later: “I was pushing to go on to the slick, which eventually got on, I think, one of the earlier ones,and was feeling pretty good. It was very tricky in those conditions. And then, we ended up having an extra stop, which I think ultimately put me in a position where I had a lot of ground to cover from there.”
Having stopped for a second set of soft dry tyres, Hamilton had a lot of ground to make up as his teammate stayed out on his first set of dry tyres. Then, in the closing laps, the rain started again and Hamilton was caught out on dry weather tyres when he needed the intermediates.
“And then just at the end, they said in the last message I had that it was going to stay drizzling, and I was like, okay, this is my moment to keep pushing, and I could stay out in those conditions. I didn’t hear that it was raining more in the first sector. And I passed the pit lane and got to turn one. It was wet, so, unfortunately, it lost us a couple of places, but otherwise, you know, the team did a good job.”
On his way up the hill towards the pit lane, Hamilton spun his Ferrari, which remarkably just tapped the crash barrier,before he continued on his way for a change of tyres to the intermediates. Charles Leclerc concluded: “There is so much to be learned. I felt like we were going into the rain and it was like a coin flip – maybe we end up on the right side of things or we end up… it’s just a complete disaster to drive. We’ve got a lot of work to do on that side.”
Championship Pressure and 2027 Outlook
This admission is a sad indictment on how well Ferrari were prepared for this weekend in Brazil in low temperatures and changeable conditions. Next time up in Las Vegas will also be cold, given the race takes place in the desert late at night.
Since F1 returned after the summer break, Red Bull have been climbing the table and are now 17 points ahead of McLaren. The gap to Ferrari in second place is now just 95 points, as the Scuderia look to hang on to second place in the F1 2026 constructors’ championship.
With very little technical regulation changes for 2027 coming, Ferrari are currently the fourth-fastest team, which does not bode well for next year’s campaign.
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The Judge, a nom de plume of an experienced F1 journalist and site founder with long-standing sources across the paddock. 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.
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
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