Martin Brundle thinks Lewis Hamilton had a ‘first time in his life’ experience at Belgian Grand Prix

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Martin Brundle feels Lewis Hamilton had a “torrid” time at the 2026 F1 Belgian Grand Prix, yet the Ferrari driver might have actually left Spa rather “relieved” last weekend.

Hamilton encountered issue after issue on Saturday and Sunday in the Ardennes forest, with some of his woes brought on by the Briton himself and some through circumstances beyond his control. The 41-year-old’s plight particularly started when he crashed at the close of FP3.

A minor mistake in the middle of the Fagnes chicane saw Hamilton crash in FP3 at Spa, after the seven-time F1 champion drifted wide onto the dirt and hit the barrier. Ferrari rebuilt his car for qualifying, but Hamilton hinted that he lost confidence due to the repairs it required.

Ferrari had to replace his rear wing, floor and gearbox, after which Hamilton qualified in P6. Any hopes to considerably improve on that position in the race then took an early hit, when Hamilton drew a five-second penalty in the Belgian GP for tipping George Russell into a spin.

Martin Brundle thinks Lewis Hamilton was ‘relieved’ Ferrari were fined for his unsafe release

The penalty for causing Russell’s retirement from the Belgian GP also inadvertently caused a second incident for Hamilton at Spa last Sunday. Ferrari delayed relaying Hamilton’s request for a tweak to his front wing until his penalty was served, yet the mechanic came in too late.

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It meant Hamilton drove into a mechanic after his pit stop at Spa, which saw the Briton face a second investigation of the race. Ultimately, Ferrari were fined for Hamilton driving into a mechanic, which Brundle suggests his compatriot would have been “relieved” about, given that it meant he kept fourth place after leading McLaren rival Oscar Piastri home by 1.743s.

Brundle told Sky Sports: “Hamilton had a torrid weekend with an accident in practice, the five-second penalty with Russell, and nearly running one of his mechanics over in the pit stop through no fault of his own.

“That incident attracted a team fine, rather than a race penalty, and so Lewis was perhaps relieved to finish fourth, probably for the first time in his life.”

The FIA fined Ferrari €30,000 (£25.5k) for Hamilton’s unsafe release during the Belgian GP, of which €10,000 (£8.5k) is suspended for 12 months. The stewards accepted that it was a complex situation due to Hamilton’s 5s penalty for hitting Russell, that teammate Charles Leclerc had also stopped and that Ferrari delayed his request for a front wing adjustment.

Ferrari only told the mechanic that Hamilton wanted a 0.6 degree change to his front wing to address the impact of fitting a different tyre compound until after his original 5s penalty was served. But the mechanic only moved in to make the change after Ferrari had already given Hamilton the green light to leave his pit box after all four of his tyres were changed.

It was clearly not Hamilton’s fault, but it added another blot to his copybook at last week’s Belgian GP. What Hamilton could have achieved with a clean race is anyone’s guess, too, as he lost 10 points of downforce with the damage he sustained in the incident with Russell.