Lewis Hamilton had a mixed experience at the Spanish Grand Prix, leaving him frustrated.
- Hamilton struggled with car issues on Friday but improved by Saturday’s qualifying session.
- Despite progress, Hamilton was overtaken in the race, finishing sixth.
- Hamilton expressed dissatisfaction, calling it the “worst race” he’s experienced.
- Ferrari’s Fred Vasseur clarified there was a car issue affecting Hamilton’s performance.
Lewis Hamilton’s weekend at the Spanish Grand Prix was a rollercoaster of emotions, with a rough start but a brighter outlook by qualifying. On Friday, Hamilton wasn’t shy about his frustrations, sharing over the radio with his race engineer Riccardo Adami that the car was not up to snuff. “That was bad,” he lamented, adding that the car wasn’t drivable due to downforce issues. However, he held out hope that fixes would be in place for Saturday.
As the qualifying session unfolded, Hamilton showed a glimmer of optimism. He managed to outpace teammate Charles Leclerc, seizing the fifth spot on the grid and expressing confidence about the car’s improvement. “P5 in qualy shows the progress we’ve made,” he said, feeling charged for the race day and setting his sights on a podium finish.
When the rubber met the road on race day, it was Leclerc who powered ahead, ultimately securing a podium finish for Ferrari. Hamilton, meanwhile, found himself battling to maintain his standing, initially keeping in front of Leclerc before slipping to sixth by the race’s conclusion. The race saw him overtaken in the final lap by Nico Hulkenberg, with the Safety Car playing a strategic role in shaking up the final positions.
Post-race, Hamilton’s mood was far from jubilant. He candidly conveyed his disappointment in a TV interview, describing the race as “terrible” and finding himself at a loss for words to describe his experience. When confronted with the notion that Ferrari could solve the issues plaguing his car, he remained skeptical, stating, “I’m sure they won’t. It’s just, it’s probably just me.”
Fred Vasseur, the Ferrari team principal, stepped into the narrative to shed light on Hamilton’s plight. Vasseur confirmed that the issues Hamilton faced during the race were indeed due to technical hitches rather than driver error. He noted that while Hamilton led for a sizable portion of the race, a problem in the car’s final stint dashed hopes of a better finish. This acknowledgment offered Hamilton some solace, but the challenging weekend left him trailing Leclerc by 23 points in the championship and considerably behind leader Oscar Piastri.
The Spanish Grand Prix proved challenging for Lewis Hamilton, marred by car issues and a frustrating sixth-place finish.
