Formula 1 News: Being beaten by his teammate two years running is wearing on Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton’s (pictured) frustrations boiled over after yet another chastening qualifying session at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where the Ferrari stalwart was knocked out in Q2 and will line up a dispiriting 13th on the grid for Sunday’s showdown at Interlagos.
–by Mark Cipolloni–
The 40-year-old Briton, who joined Ferrari this season in a blockbuster move, simply couldn’t muster the pace to match the frontrunners. His woes were a stark contrast to teammate Charles Leclerc, who stormed into third place on the grid— just 0.3 seconds shy of pole-sitter Lando Norris, with Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli slotting in between at 0.120s clear of the Monegasque.
It was another black mark on a campaign that’s left Hamilton languishing sixth in the drivers’ standings, a yawning 66 points adrift of Leclerc. The seven-time champion had already salvaged just seventh in Saturday’s sprint race, but the cumulative toll of being outshone by his younger colleague—for the second straight year, if you count his Mercedes swansong in 2024—appears to be fraying his edges.
Visibly deflated in the Sao Paulo media pen, Hamilton was uncharacteristically terse when pressed on his mindset. “Not great, not great,” he muttered. “I’ll just do what I can tomorrow.”
The root of his elimination? Tire woes, as ever. “The execution on track times and everything was fine—it’s just the rears. I can’t get them to temperature, and they won’t stop sliding,” Hamilton explained, his voice laced with exasperation. He confessed to battling futilely to coax life into the Pirellis, a recurring gremlin that’s sapped his qualifying bite all weekend.
Even with a history of miraculous Sunday recoveries—think his legendary wet-weather masterclasses—Hamilton offered no such optimism this time. “You can’t overtake here,” he shrugged, the defeatism hanging heavy. “I’m not expecting much, to be honest. Another write-off weekend, I suppose.”
Whispers in the F1 paddock, amplified by online chatter, paint a grimmer picture: at 40, is Hamilton past his prime? Rumors swirling across the web suggest the veteran is contemplating an early exit from the sport, weary of the relentless grind and the sting of being overshadowed. Insiders hint at soul-searching sessions with his inner circle, with retirement talk gaining traction amid Ferrari’s uneven transition year.
Leclerc, by contrast, radiated quiet confidence after his P3 haul—a marked rebound from Friday’s sprint qualifying, where he’d mustered only eighth to Hamilton’s 11th. “I won’t overhype the turnaround; we’re talking maybe a tenth and a half,” the 28-year-old allowed, ever the pragmatist. “But in a weekend this tight, that swing means everything—from scraping Q1 to locking in Q3.”
He lauded Ferrari’s meticulous execution across the sessions, a lifeline after a nightmare start in FP1. “We’ve been fighting tooth and nail since Thursday. Getting to Q3 felt impossible at points, but we nailed every lap. I’m genuinely thrilled.”
The boost stemmed from subtle tweaks to his SF-25 post-sprint, where he’d clawed to fifth. “A few changes from this morning unlocked a real step forward,” Leclerc revealed. “Starting P3? We had zero expectations after how rocky things kicked off. It’s a solid spot to fight from.”
As the Sao Paulo sun sets on another Hamilton down day, the questions mount: can the Brit summon one last roar, or has the teammate tango tipped him toward the exit door?