Lewis Hamilton called out over ‘maniac’ incident at the Brazilian Grand Prix that ruined his weekend

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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton is just weeks away from going a calendar year without a podium finish after retiring from the 2025 F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix whilst down in P18.

The 40-year-old has not stood on a Grand Prix rostrum since he scored his final podium with Mercedes in Las Vegas on November 23, 2024. Hamilton ended last year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix in second place, as George Russell won with 7.313 seconds between the Brits in Sin City.

Hamilton quit Mercedes to join Ferrari for the 2025 F1 season, as the seven-time champion realised his childhood dream of driving for the pride of Italy. Yet Hamilton admits he is living a “nightmare” at Ferrari, having now failed to score a podium over his first 21 rounds in red.

The Stevenage-born star had never failed to finish on a Grand Prix podium beyond the 10th round of a season through his 19-year F1 career before he moved to Maranello. Hamilton is also set to pen his worst points total since F1 introduced the current scoring system in 2010.

Lewis Hamilton drove ‘like a maniac’ in his Sao Paulo Grand Prix crash with Franco Colapinto

Hamilton sits just sixth in the F1 drivers’ championship with three rounds remaining, having only scored 148 points so far in 2025. Rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who replaced Hamilton at Mercedes, has secured 122 points for P7 in the standings after his P2 in the Sao Paulo GP.

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Ferrari retired Hamilton from last place on Lap 38 of the Sao Paulo GP, having limped around at the rear of the field due to the floor damage he sustained from a collision with Alpine star Franco Colapinto on L1. He also had an incident with Carlos Sainz of Williams on L1 in Brazil.

Hamilton earned a 5s penalty for his collision with Colapinto in the Sao Paulo GP, as the race stewards felt he was primarily at fault for rear-ending the Argentine at Turn 15. The collision broke Hamilton’s front wing, which damaged his floor as it also got stuck underneath his car.

While Hamilton suggested that his penalty in the Sao Paulo GP was a “complete joke”, Marc Surer believes it was deserved as the record 105-time Grand Prix winner was driving “like a maniac”. He made several changes of direction before trying to drive into a closing window.

Surer told Motorsport-Total: “Bad starting position, and then driving like a maniac.”

Lewis Hamilton was desperate to overtake Franco Colapinto in their crash in Brazil

Hamilton only started the Sao Paulo GP from P13 on the grid after a disappointing qualifying result for the honorary Brazilian citizen. His hopes for last week’s race at Interlagos also took another blow at the start, as contact with Sainz at T1 left the 40-year-old down in only 18th.

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The Ferrari star’s race was then effectively over at T15 when he sustained severe damage to his floor, which made his car increasingly unstable. Hamilton got a run on Colapinto in their opening lap fight, but he left it just too late to pull out and hit the Argentine’s rear-left tyre.

Hamilton did not impress Surer in the incident, as the record 104-time polesitter had also tried to cut under Colapinto at Turn 14 before pulling to the outside and then back towards the inside for T15. He was desperate to get ahead, having started on the soft C4 Pirelli tyres.

Now, Hamilton will have to go to Sin City in the next round of the 2025 F1 season for the Las Vegas Grand Prix and secure his first podium finish as a Ferrari driver to avoid going one full calendar year without a rostrum. He has earned one P4 finish through the past nine rounds.