Hamilton’s Ferrari nightmare deepens, but belief remains

The red suit still means everything, yet the results keep pulling in the opposite direction. In São Paulo, Lewis Hamilton’s sprint brought two meagre points and his grand prix ended early after contact and damage he could not drive around. He called it a nightmare, a word he has used more than once this year, and still he insisted on getting up the next morning to chase the work. It was a bleak weekend that somehow contained a thread of hope.

A weekend that mirrored the season

Interlagos captured the rhythm of 2025 for Hamilton in Ferrari colours. There were flashes, then a thud. In the main race he tangled early, felt a heavy hit, suspected suspension damage, then lost the downforce he needed to keep the SF-24 on a knife edge through the middle sector. The car’s balance bled away, and with it any chance of points. “I have been living in a nightmare for a while,” he told television, summing up the emotional fatigue of oscillating between the dream of Ferrari and the reality of weekends like this.

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For Ferrari the pain ran wider. Charles Leclerc’s race collapsed in a chain reaction with Oscar Piastri and Andrea Kimi Antonelli that destroyed a front wheel and ended his afternoon. The double DNF hurt twice, denting morale and allowing Red Bull to move ahead in the fight for Constructors’ honours. The optics stung, given the fanfare with which Hamilton was unveiled and the patience already tested in Maranello.

The psychology of a bad year

Hamilton’s language sounded raw. He spoke of struggle, of climbing back onto the bike the next morning, of trying to finish the season with dignity. Yet he refused to call the year a write-off. He pointed to Leclerc’s qualifying pace as evidence that the car still contains speed, a small but important assertion that the project is not broken, only brittle. He framed the setbacks as steps on the road to something “extraordinary”, a belief anchored more in faith than form but necessary all the same.

There is personal jeopardy here. Hamilton sits sixth in the standings on 148 points, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli closing to within 26. Statistics like that cut against the legend and feed outside noise. Internally, though, this is about rebuilding a floor of consistency, isolating what is structural and what is circumstantial, and making sure that when the set-up window opens, Ferrari converts.

What Ferrari must do next

The task is not to promise miracles but to eliminate self-inflicted harm. The SF-24 has highs, it simply does not hold them. Operational sharpness, updates that move the car without throwing it off balance, and clearer race-day decision-making are the pillars of a respectable finish. If Ferrari can stabilise, the off-season has something to grow from.

Hamilton’s final note in Brazil was quiet but pointed. He believes in the team, believes in the work, believes that the pain is not purposeless. That conviction does not score points today, but it can make them possible tomorrow. For now, belief is the fuel Ferrari needs most.