Lewis Hamilton collides with rival as F1 star crashes OUT of Brazilian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton in a Ferrari race suit in the Ferrari garage — Photo: © IMAGO

Brazilian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton collides with rival as F1 star crashes OUT of Brazilian Grand Prix

How the early action played out in Sunday's Brazilian GP

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Sunday 9 November 2025 18:14 Updated: 20:32

F1 legend Lewis Hamilton suffered a devastating start to the 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix as home hero Gabriel Bortoleto crashed out of the race for the second time this weekend.

Hamilton initially made contact with the Williams of Carlos Sainz following lights out at Interlagos but it was his move into the back of an Alpine upon trying to overtake Franco Colapinto that cost the Ferrari star his front wing – forcing him into the pits.

An early safety car was deployed in Sao Paulo after the chaotic first two laps, with seven-time champion Hamilton dropping down from P13 to P19, last of those left on the grid as a result.

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Following the incident that saw Hamilton pick up significant damage, Sky's pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz said: "When he passed me in the pit lane there was so much damage to the guide vanes on the floor.

"He will be slower than a slow thing. There is so much damage to the floor of his Ferrari."

Meanwhile, rookie driver Bortoleto likely broke the hearts of his home fans and the Sauber mechanics who worked tirelessly to get his car ready for Sunday's race after he crashed out of the sprint, but having made contact with Lance Stroll, the Brazilian is now out of his first home grand prix as well.

Ferrari suffer Brazilian GP nightmare

Once Bortoleto's vehicle had been cleared from the track, the racing action got underway once again when further disaster hit the Ferrari garage.

On lap six of the 71-lap event, championship contender Oscar Piastri made contact with Kimi Antonelli, taking out Charles Leclerc in the process in a move which saw the McLaren driver slapped with a 10-second penalty.

The damage to the suspension on Leclerc's Ferrari was unsalvageable and the Monegasque driver was ruled out of the race in a devastating blow to the Scuderia's hopes of picking up P2 in the constructors' championship.

Elsewhere on track in the opening stages, title leader Lando Norris managed to stay out of the drama and cling on to his pole position, but reigning champion Max Verstappen continued to storm through the pack having started from the pit lane.

After 17 laps, the Red Bull star had already made it up to P9 having overtaken Hamilton.

The seven-time champion continued the race as Ferrari's sole driver, but could be heard complaining that his car was 'crazy unstable' and things took yet another disastrous turn later on on Sunday when Hamilton was hit with a five-second penalty for causing a collision with Colapinto.

After 40 laps of a nightmare grand prix for the former Mercedes star, he joined team-mate Leclerc in retiring from the race in Brazil, leading to a nightmare double DNF for the Italian team.

F1 Brazilian Grand Prix Interlagos