Lewis Hamilton blasted for 'dangerous' driving by F1 rival at Spanish Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Silverstone, Britain, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

Spanish Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton blasted for 'dangerous' driving by F1 rival at Spanish Grand Prix

Not a happy man...

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Friday 11 September 2026 18:44

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Lewis Hamilton has been criticised – not for the first time – for his driving in an F1 practice session.

FP1 at the brand new Madring was a hectic affair, with a number of drivers finding themselves impeded while on hot laps (one to watch for Saturday afternoon's qualifying session), and Hamilton wasn't innocent of that.

His most impactful moment saw him hold up Nico Hulkenberg at the final corner as he prepared to start his own hot lap, but it was Carlos Sainz who had the biggest complaint about the Brit.

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Sainz, racing this weekend at his home city of Madrid for the first time, came upon the Ferrari driver at La Monumental, the 550m-long, banked right-handed Turn 12, and was less than impressed by Hamilton's efforts to remove himself from the racing line.

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Sainz: Always the same from Hamilton

The Brit was planted more or less in the middle of the track, with the racing line being on bottom line beneath him, dawdling relatively close to where Sainz was hoping to come past.

The Williams star took his hand off his steering wheel to gesture in irritation at Hamilton as he passed close to the red car, clearly frustrated that the man in his old race seat didn't more higher up the track to stay out of the way.

"Lewis letting by in the middle of turn 12, it's always the same," he fumed on the radio. "It's so dangerous. Like, it takes zero effort to be two meters more left. Zero effort."

Sky Sports' commentary group speculated that Hamilton was reluctant to go higher up the banking due to the amount of 'marbles', the small chunks of discarded tyre rubber, up on the outside of the corner which could impact his grip levels for his next push lap.

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