Lewis Hamilton's struggles with Ferrari continued at Interlagos, where the seven-time world champion had another flop qualifying session ahead of Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix.
Another disappointing outing for Lewis Hamilton
After being knocked out in Q2, Hamilton will line up 13th on the grid. After another disappointing weekend for both himself and the Scuderia No.44 team, he expressed:
“Mentally, I'm not doing well. It hasn’t been a good day, neither yesterday nor today. I’ll do what I can tomorrow,” he admitted after the session.
Ferrari's issues began early in the weekend. Despite a decent baseline setup, Lewis Hamilton found himself struggling to bring his rear tires up to temperature, a recurring issue this year. The Briton explained that the car's behaviour changed dramatically, making it tough to collect performance from the SF-25 over a single lap.
“The setup is fine, I just haven't been able to get the tires to work,” he added. “Where did the time go? In the tire temperatures...Everything is done in the garage. I don't think it was an execution problem. It's just that the rear tires were at a point where I couldn't get them to the right temperature.”
Typical Lewis Hamilton qualifying session
The session was a typical reflection of Hamilton's 2025 campaign. He showed flashes of promises in Q1, briefly topping the sheets, followed by a sharp drop-off in pace. As fellow teammate Charles Leclerc picked himself from the drop zone in Q2 to qualify third overall, Hamilton's best lap left him a tenth shy of the top ten. It marked his fifth Q2 exit of the season, and with one Q1 elimination already on record, his Saturdays have become a growing concern.
Lando Norris secured pole for McLaren with a 1:09.511, ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Leclerc.