- Lewis Hamilton placed tenth in Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo.
- Hamilton finished more than 50 seconds behind winner Max Verstappen
- He is now seventh in the 2024 driver standings, ahead of his move to Ferrari.
A penny for the thoughts of John Elkann, president of Ferrari, who is looking for gold mines to secure the services of Lewis Hamilton next year and the year after that.
A conservative estimate puts the seven-time world champion’s annual salary at £40m, but based on his barely believable mediocre performance in the wet, they might as well be washing machines here.
The story of one of the worst days of this great driver began at 7:30 on Sunday morning, the time set for qualifying after heavy rain postponed the race scheduled for Saturday.
The Hamilton horror unfolded when Franco Colapinto lost control of his Williams and crashed into the Rolex advertising billboards. The red flag was waved, halting first quarter proceedings. The rain intensified at this point.
This was potentially bad news for Mercedes, with both cars in the relegation zone. Hamilton, who has made his legend in the wet, was on the ground, 11 seconds from the top. George Russell was two places above him.
Lewis Hamilton was hugely disappointed at this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo
Hamilton placed tenth in Sunday’s race, finishing more than 50 seconds behind the winner.
The seven-time world champion will leave Mercedes soon to join Ferrari for the 2025 season.
Russell escaped with some ease when the action resumed. Hamilton did not and qualified 16th. This was the Hamilton who put in one of the best wet races the world has ever known: Silverstone in 2008, winning by a minute, comparable to his hero Ayrton Senna’s magic at Donington in 1993.
Hamilton was amphibian that day 16 years ago, and then this. Russell came to the front row. Hamilton’s contrasting form was one of the most notable failures I have witnessed reporting on over 300 grands prix. He is now 16-5 against Russell in the standings.
Either Hamilton is being sabotaged by Mercedes or something is seriously wrong with him. He is 39 years old and one wonders if he can regain the preternatural nerve and skill that took him to the top of motorsport for so long.
History has taught us to never rule it out. He’s done a career of magic in moments of crisis, and I wouldn’t have been entirely surprised if he’d done more than Hamilton in the world by winning the race.
One of the sport’s biggest figures was less convinced of that, telling me on the grid that Ferrari’s signing of Hamilton is a doomed vanity project.
Max Verstappen won Sunday’s Grand Prix and moves closer to his fourth F1 world championship
Hamilton, 39, photographed riding a scooter at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.
There was a little redemption by finishing the grand prix in tenth place. But in reality, more shame ensued. He was bested by a trio of rookies: Colapinto, Ollie Bearman and Liam Lawson, among others. He staggered and mowed the grass.
Russell finished fourth and could have won. “At least one Mercedes was behaving itself,” Hamilton said cryptically. ‘It’s like a wooden board. There is no suspension. It’s bouncing everywhere. You can’t get the power. I could happily go on holiday.’
Which isn’t the worst idea.
