Lewis Hamilton has been told to “focus on driving and talk less” in a rebuke from the Ferrari president, John Elkann, which was almost certainly a reaction to Hamilton’s outspoken description of his first season with the team as a “nightmare”.
Hamilton has endured a difficult debut year with Ferrari, with the team underperforming and the seven‑time champion having a trying time adapting to a new environment and practices.
After another disappointing race at the São Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday, when forced to retire the car on lap 37, Hamilton was unusually blunt, stating: “This is a nightmare and I’ve been living it for a while. The flip between the dream of driving for this amazing team and then the nightmare of the results that we’ve had.”
Elkann, who was instrumental in persuading Hamilton to join Ferrari and with whom the British driver is friends, gave an equally forthright response, speaking in Milan. “They should focus on driving and talk less,” he said of his two drivers. “We still have a few races left, and it’s not impossible to finish second.” Hamilton is sixth in the drivers’ championship, 66 points behind his teammate Charles Leclerc and still without a podium finish. Leclerc was also knocked out of the race at Interlagos through no fault of his own when Kimi Antonelli crashed into him, dropping the Scuderia from second to fourth in the constructors’ championship.
Hamilton had to retire after he took floor damage in a misjudged attempt to pass the Alpine of Franco Colapinto, for which he was later given a five-second penalty. Elkann intimated he expected better.
“In Formula One, on the one hand, we have the mechanics who did their job, including poles and pit stops,” he said. “The engineers did the same, with the car clearly improving. The rest wasn’t up to par.”
Hamilton and the team are already looking towards 2026, when new regulations offer a chance for a reset and he will have had a full season of acclimatisation. He has been active in pursuing change within Ferrari. It is believed he was somewhat taken aback at the team’s organisation and methodologies when he began working with them and that he felt the decision-making process was ungainly.
In Belgium this year he revealed he had held a series of meetings with the key players at Ferrari including Elkann and the chief executive, Benedetto Vigna, and gone as far as compiling two documents detailing suggestions for the progress he believes is needed to turn around their fortunes.
Meanwhile, Lando Norris, who won in Brazil, has pointedly played down expectations he is poised to secure his first F1 world championship after taking a commanding lead in the title race, warning he had a long way to go.
Norris won with a commanding drive from pole at Interlagos while his title rival and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri could manage only fifth. Max Verstappen delivered a magnificent performance to come back from 19th to third but his heroics only limited the damage to his title hopes as Norris opened a clear gap on his two competitors.
However Norris, who also won with a dominant drive at the previous round in Mexico, remained circumspect about his chances, insisting he was not considering becoming champion yet. “I’m not thinking about it, not yet, not at all,” he said.
“It’s a great win, but to see Max and how quick he was, that’s where my mind is at and there is a long way to go.”
Norris leads Piastri by 24 points and Verstappen by 49 with three meetings remaining and 83 points available. He could afford to finish second to Piastri in all three races and the sprint in Qatar and still seal the title. But he maintained he did not believe the last two races had been a turning point in the championship.
“No, it just feels like another weekend where I came here to try and win, to get the most points I could and did that,” he said. “I also did that last weekend. Neither are turning points, they’re just strong results, which is exactly what I need, exactly what I’m fighting for every single weekend.”
