Lewis Hamilton was left deeply frustrated after finishing fourth in a chaotic, rain-hit British Grand Prix, partly blaming Ferrari’s strategy.
He also pointed to personal errors, and a “constantly snapping” SF-25 for missing out on what would have been his first podium with the Scuderia.
The seven-time world champion admitted he had “no confidence” in the car throughout the race and went off track immediately after his pit stop.
“A lot of places” were lost due to the team’s strategy decisions, he said, in a withering assessment of both his own drive and Ferrari’s performance. Hamilton added that Ferrari must ensure key flaws in the SF-25 do not carry over into their 2026 design.
“We lost a lot of places through strategy,” Hamilton told Sky F1.
“I’m not really sure how I was P4 and then I came out P8, so that made life very difficult. I got stuck behind those three cars [Pierre Gasly, Hulkenberg and Stroll] for a long period of time.
“Then I stopped early in hope for a big undercut, and geez, it was so tricky. This car does not like these conditions at all.
“So, big snap and wide in Turn 3, it lost me a ton of time. Then I had a wide at… Lot’s of mistakes. Not a good day.”
Despite the challenges, Hamilton remained in the fight for third late in the race. After overtaking Lance Stroll, he closed in on Nico Hulkenberg, but the Haas driver’s decision to pit one lap later helped him pull clear and secure his maiden F1 podium.
Hamilton finished fourth, narrowly missing out on the podium at his home race. He now sits sixth in the Drivers’ Championship, just 16 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc, who had a nightmare outing and finished 14th in what he described as one of his worst races.
“It’s the worst feeling,” he said, “it’s not a great feeling.
“It’s when you just can’t sit back and just be confident that you can lean on the rear end. When it’s constantly snapping, you just have no confidence.
“So the ultimate goal is to try and build up confidence in the car and then get faster and faster. But every time, it’s like building a wall and then knocking it down, building a wall, knocking it down. So when you can’t build that confidence, then you’re not really going anywhere. You’re kind of in no man’s land.
“So, that’s kind of how it felt for most of the race.”
The day belonged to McLaren, with Lando Norris taking a commanding and emotional first home win at Silverstone. Oscar Piastri followed in second despite a controversial penalty, rounding off a superb weekend for the Woking-based team.
