Lewis Hamilton says his Ferrari dream is also a nightmare

SAO PAULO – Lewis Hamilton said his Ferrari dream had also become a nightmare as the Italian team suffered another double retirement at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Nov 9 and slipped to fourth in the Formula One standings.

The seven-time world champion made contact with Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto at the start of the race at Interlagos and severely damaged his car’s floor and front wing.

Stewards gave the Briton a five-second penalty for the incident with Colapinto and he eventually gave up the struggle and retired on Lap 37, after serving the punishment.

Teammate Charles Leclerc also retired after qualifying third, punted out by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli in a three-way collision that McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took the rap for.

“This is a nightmare – I’ve been living it for a while,” commented Hamilton to 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, I’ll keep training, I’ll 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,” he added.

It was the third time this season that Ferrari, the team Hamilton joined in January from Mercedes with soaring optimism, had failed to score with both drivers.

Hamilton, the sport’s most successful driver of all time, won a Shanghai sprint in March but has yet to stand on the podium in 21 races.

Ferrari are now four points behind Red Bull and 36 adrift of Mercedes in a championship already clinched for the second year in a row by McLaren.

During the race, Hamilton had complained his car was lacking downforce and unstable, a combination he said was “pretty disastrous” through the corners.

Team boss Fred Vasseur said it was hard to find any positives from Nov 9.

“In sprint qualifying, we got a decent result. In the sprint race, the pace was good and qualifying went well with Charles. It’s been a very tough Sunday,” said the Frenchman.

“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.”

Leclerc, however, defended Piastri after the Australian was given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision that put the Ferrari driver out of the race.

Stewards, in a statement, declared Piastri “wholly responsible” and also gave him two penalty points on his licence.

“Oscar was optimistic but Kimi knew that Oscar was on the inside, I think, and he kind of did the corner like Oscar was never there,” Leclerc told Sky Sports in reviewing what happened.

“For me, the blame is not all on Oscar. Yes, it was optimistic, but this could have been avoided.

“I’m frustrated. At the end of the day, I’m not angry with Oscar or Kimi. These things happen, but I wouldn’t go as far as saying that it’s all Oscar’s fault. I don’t think it is.”

Some pundits felt he was unlucky to be punished and Piastri said he could not just make his McLaren disappear.

“I had a very clear opportunity – I went for it. The other two on the outside braked quite late,” said the Australian.

“There was obviously a bit of a lock-up into the corner, but that’s because I could see Kimi was not going to give me any space.

“I can’t disappear, but the decision is what it is.”

McLaren boss Andrea Stella kept an open mind about an incident that had massive consequences for the championship battle between his drivers.

“For the moment we respect the decision of the stewards, take it on the chin and move forwards,” he said.

Lando Norris extended his lead over Piastri to 24 points after winning at Interlagos. REUTERS