Lewis Hamilton lashed out at the state of his car and at Ferrari’s strategy calls as his proud streak of Silverstone podiums was ended on Sunday.
Hamilton had finished in the top three in his previous 12 races at Silverstone, but was forced to settle for a frustrating fourth at the 2025 British Grand Prix behind Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and a jubilant Nico Hulkenberg, who remarkably secured his first ever podium despite starting in P19.
The seven-time world champion suffered from poor strategy calls throughout a race that was interrupted by rain and several Safety Cars, but he also struggled to handle a ‘snappy’ car which he says he has no confidence in.
“The car was really, really hard to drive,” he complained.
“It just has no stability. So you go to corner, and it’s snapping, snapping, snapping, snapping. It just won’t stay still and that makes it so difficult. And in the low speed, it doesn’t like to turn. It’s a really frustrating balance.”
Hamilton’s struggles saw him go off the track on a number of occasions as he failed to close the gap to Hulkenberg in the closing stages.
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Highlights from a chaotic British Grand Prix at Silverstone
“It’s the worst feeling,” he added to Sky Sports F1.
“When it’s constantly snapping you just have no confidence. The ultimate goal is to try and build up confidence in the car and get faster and faster over time.
“It’s like building a wall and then knocking it down. When you can’t build that confidence you’re not really going anywhere.
“You’re kind of in no man’s land. That’s how I felt for most of the race.”
‘We lost time and places through strategy’
Hamilton’s struggles with the car were compounded by several strategy calls that saw him lose track position.
When rain arrived after 11 laps, Hamilton’s first pit stop saw him drop from fourth to eighth and he was delayed behind the Haas of Esteban Ocon and then the Alpine of Pierre Gasly for several laps.
When Hamilton passed Gasly on lap 29 and Lance Stroll on lap 35, the home fans expected him to comfortably reel in Hulkenberg for third, but his team called him in too early for slick tyres and he struggled when he came out.
Hamilton lost around five seconds on the first two corners after the pit stop and Hulkenberg extended his advantage on intermediate tyres before stopping one lap later to deny Hamilton a 13th home podium.
“We lost time and a lot of places through strategy,” Hamilton added.
“I’m not really sure how I was P4 and came out P8. That made life very difficult. I got stuck behind three cars for a long time.
“Then I stopped early in the hope of a big undercut and jeez, it was so tricky. This car does not like these conditions at all.
“A big snap and I went wide in Turn Three and it lost me a ton of time. There was lots of mistakes. It was not a good day.”
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Hamilton almost got past Lando Norris during a dramatic opening lap at Silverstone
‘What we have is so difficult to drive’
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur revealed after the race that some of the decisions had been made “blind” because their GPS system had failed after 10 laps and they did not know where Hamilton was on the track.
It contributed to a frustrating finish to a weekend that had started full of promise when Hamilton topped the timesheet in first practice and looked a genuine threat to the McLarens.
“I think what’s positive this weekend is that in practice I was right there. I was much more happy with the car balance in the dry. And then in qualifying, we were much, much stronger,” he added.
“I think there’s lot of positives, and also, on a race like this, while it’s not great, you can download a lot.
“I feel like I know how to explain to the team what I don’t want built in next year’s car.
“What we have right now makes it so difficult to drive, particularly in these conditions.”
F1 takes a brief break before the season resumes at the Belgian Grand Prix as the Sprint format returns, live on Sky Sports F1 on July 25-27. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.
