Lewis Hamilton Says Ferrari Had Pace to Win Spanish GP Before Brake Failure
Lewis Hamilton insisted Ferrari “had the car to fight for a win” at the Spanish Grand Prix after the seven-time world champion suffered an early retirement due to brake problems at Formula 1’s newest venue, the Madring.
Early Retirement at Madring
The Briton started fourth for Sunday’s 57-lap race and made a strong launch on the soft Pirelli compound. Hamilton initially moved ahead of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull on the run to Turn 1 and briefly threatened to overtake front-row starters Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli before backing out. After Verstappen cut the first corner, Hamilton was handed back third place, but braking issues emerged in the opening laps. He reported over team radio that he had glanced the wall.
Hamilton continued to lose positions over the following laps and ran deep into the Turn 20 run-off area. He rejoined the circuit before pulling into the pits and retiring after just seven laps.
Hamilton: Wall Contact Not Root Cause
“It was already basically before that,” Hamilton told Sky F1 when asked if the contact with the wall had caused the braking issue.
“Braking for Turn 5 I hit the brake, the car started stopping and then the pedal took a step and all of a sudden the car didn’t de-accelerate as fast a normal.
“I ended up carrying a lot of speed in and just brushed the barrier. After that the pedal came back and then a few corners later, the pedal went long. I don’t really know where that’s come from.”
Leclerc Leads Laps, Finishes Fourth
Hamilton had challenged for pole position on Saturday. In Sunday’s race, team-mate Charles Leclerc led the most laps as Ferrari tried to keep the Monegasque driver out in the hope of a late Safety Car period before ultimately finishing fourth.
Hamilton Praises Team, Eyes Future Wins
“We’ve had a pretty decent car, a good car this weekend and I think we will continue to try and improve it and I think we have better results coming in the future,” said Hamilton.
He added: “I think the team’s done an amazing job, so I’m sad for them today that they couldn’t get max points. I think we had the car to fight for a win today, and unfortunately it just didn’t work out.”
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