Lewis Hamilton frustrated by ‘nightmare’ results during debut season at Ferrari

By Philip Duncan, PA F1 Correspondent, Interlagos

Lewis Hamilton said he is trapped in a “nightmare” after his debut season at Ferrari took another “disastrous” twist in Brazil.

Hamilton qualified only 13th, and then crashed into the back of Alpine’s Franco Colapinto at the end of the opening lap in Interlagos.

The seven-time world champion broke his front wing, and dropped to last, before he was forced to withdraw from the race with irreparable damage sustained in the collision.

He was deemed by the stewards to be “wholly responsible” for the crash, and was handed a five-second penalty and one point on his licence.

Hamilton, 40, said: “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 results that we’ve had, the ups and downs, it is challenging.

“This weekend has been disastrous and disappointing for everyone. I am trying to keep my head above water and remain positive.”

Hamilton is now without a top-three finish in 21 appearances for Ferrari since his much-hyped transfer from Mercedes.

He trails team-mate Charles Leclerc, who was running third when he was taken out of the race, by 66 points in the world championship.

Hamilton continued: “Charles did a great job in qualifying, so there is some performance in that car.

“At this point I have to believe there is something to come out of all these hardships that we have been going through. I am sure we are destined for something positive in the future.

“Maybe we are getting all our bad luck out of the way this year… who knows? We will not give up and we will come back fighting at the next race.”