Lewis Hamilton blamed for 'indefensible' Brazilian Grand Prix mistake

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton blamed for 'indefensible' Brazilian Grand Prix mistake

Lewis Hamilton failed to finish the Brazilian GP

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Wednesday 12 November 2025 09:57

Lewis Hamilton’s penalty at the Brazilian Grand Prix has been branded ‘indefensible’ in the Italian F1 media.

The seven-time world champion was involved in two separate incidents in Sao Paulo, initially tagging Carlos Sainz at Turn 1 and then running into the back of Franco Colapinto after attempting an overtake later on.

Hamilton’s contact with the Alpine took off the front wing of his Ferrari and he earned a five-second time penalty.

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The incidents resulted in a damaged floor for Hamilton who eventually retired from the race, marking a double DNF for Ferrari after a Turn 1 incident for Charles Leclerc also knocked him out of the race.

As a result, Ferrari have been struck down to fourth in the constructors’ with Red Bull and Mercedes both enjoying a podium with Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli.

Hamilton under scrutiny

In Corriere della Sera’s review of the Brazilian GP, the Italian publication delivered a bleak assessment of Hamilton’s performance, scoring him a lowly five out of 10 and calling his mistake ‘indefensible’.

They wrote: “He's once again at the stewards, who are beating him—a 5-second penalty he served before retiring, so as not to carry it over to the next GP—because of the crash into Colapinto (which he will emerge from with a ruined front wing), rather than Sainz, who hits him at the start, ruining a race that had already been compromised by his poor qualifying.

“Lewis may be partially right, but the mistake on the Argentine makes him indefensible: his first season in red is about to end in a… "red hole" and with a fair amount of doubt.”

Following the Brazilian GP, John Elkann made waves when he spoke to the media and blamed Ferrari’s drivers for the team’s woeful performance in 2025.

"We have drivers who need to focus more and talk less, because we still have important races to come, and finishing second in the constructors isn't impossible,” Elkann said.

Hamilton has since hit back with a powerful statement of his own on social media after Brazil, and said: “I back my team. I back myself. I will not give up. Not now, not then, not ever. Thank you, Brazil, always.”

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F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Brazilian Grand Prix