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Lewis Hamilton was handed a five-second penalty for going off the track after the Singapore Grand Prix.
The stewards decided that he had no ‘justifiable reason’ to leave the circuit multiple times, despite suffering a late brake failure. Hamilton, who lost nearly 60 seconds in the span of a few laps, was hanging on for dear life in the closing stages.
His Ferrari held off Fernando Alonso by just four tenths, but the stewards believe the Briton fell foul of the rules on his way to doing so. It turned a disappointing Singapore Grand Prix even worse for a man who is still longing for his first podium in red.
Alonso was furious with Hamilton and couldn’t understand how he managed to stay ahead of him, despite his late struggles. Jenson Button thinks Hamilton could leave F1 if things don’t go his way in 2026, given how tough his 2025 campaign has been.
READ MORE: Jenson Button thinks ‘everyone’ at Ferrari is ‘afraid’ after what he saw at the Singapore Grand Prix
F1 fans say Lewis Hamilton’s penalty was ‘crazy’ after the Singapore Grand Prix
Hamilton has made a ‘child’s mistake’ at Ferrari, and has a lot of work to do to turn his fortunes around heading into the 2026 F1 regulations. To date, he is probably going through the most difficult period in his Formula 1 career so far.
He’s nailed on for sixth in the drivers’ championship with six races in the campaign to go. He can still help his team finish second in the constructors’ too. Losing two more points with his post-race Singapore penalty does him no favours, though.
Speaking on X (formerly known as Twitter), one fan called the result of the stewards’ investigation ‘crazy’ and couldn’t see how he could be penalised after suffering a brake failure.
“‘Managing Brake Issue’ and ‘Without Justifiable Reason’ in the same sentence is crazy work,” the individual commented.
“How is not having brakes not a justifiable reason?” added another person, while someone else agreed with the sentiment, “How’s having no brakes not a good enough reason?”
One fan spotted a flaw in his argument and protested that a retirement was the most viable option, adding that, “If he had no brakes, then he should have retired the car. How is that safe?”
But, the last few responses were fairly unanimous, and agreed that there was little the seven-time champion could have done, “Not having brakes is a pretty justifiable reason lol.”
“Surely brake failure was a justifiable reason,” added one last fan.
Why Lewis Hamilton will be relieved to see which F1 race is next on the calendar
Hamilton’s mood is ‘completely different’ at Ferrari, and he has not been happy with the direction that his fortunes have taken since moving to Italy.
It’s unlikely that remaining at Mercedes would have produced better results, but pressure has been added to him for next year’s effort. It feels like failure can’t be an option.
In the short term, Hamilton will be relieved to see that the United States Grand Prix is next on the calendar, which is a track he always goes well at.
Nine times between 2014 and 2022 yielded no results worse than third, including four consecutive wins at one stage.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t been classified in each of the last two events, but there’s no reason why a new situation can’t help bring back his old form.
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