Lewis Hamilton admits first season at Ferrari has been a ‘nightmare’ after retiring in Sao Paulo: 'I’ve been living it for a while'

Lewis Hamilton has described his debut season with Ferrari as a “nightmare” after yet another frustrating race weekend. His run at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix ended with retirement on Sunday, November 9. The seven-time Formula 1 world champion, who started 13th on the grid, failed to finish the race after a collision forced him to box the car.

Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc’s car also faced a similar fate and retired without completing the race in Brazil. After both drivers retired, Ferrari dropped to fourth place in the constructors’ standings and is now 36 points behind Mercedes and four points behind Red Bull Racing. Table-topper McLaren is now nearly 400 points ahead of Ferrari.

Hamilton admits Ferrari debut has been ‘disastrous’ 

Hamilton, on the other hand, remains without a single podium this season and is placed sixth in the drivers’ standings. He has fallen too far behind the top three of Lando Norris (McLaren), Oscar Piastri (McLaren), and Max Verstappen (Red Bull). Speaking about his first season at Ferrari, Hamilton said it’s been a nightmare for him because of the results.

“It’s a nightmare. I’ve been living it for a while. The flip between the dream of driving for this amazing team and then the nightmare of the results that we’ve had. We are just really having to fight through those hardships at the moment. This weekend has been disastrous and disappointing for everyone. I am trying to keep my head above water and remain positive,” Hamilton said.

Despite the setbacks, the 40-year-old remains determined to turn things around in Ferrari red. He also tried to take some blame off the car, saying that Leclerc showed in the qualifying in Brazil that it has some pace in it. Leclerc started the Sao Paulo GP in third place before retiring due to damage caused by Oscar Piastri and Kimi Antonelli’s collision.

“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. It would be wrong to say that there are no positives at all. If you look at Charles’ performance in qualifying, it shows that the car does have some pace in it,” he added.

Hamilton’s move to Ferrari was one of the most talked-about transfers in F1 history, but the British driver is struggling to revive his performance and bring back Scuderia’s glory days. Meanwhile, Norris continued his superb run of form this season by taking victory in both the sprint race and the main Grand Prix in Sao Paulo. Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli finished second, while Verstappen completed the podium.