Lewis Hamilton explains 'massive' Ferrari issue after surprise failure

Lewis Hamilton has described the "massive" sudden move to oversteer he was combating during the early stages of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

From 20th on the grid, a rocket start from Hamilton had him battling with Oliver Bearman over ninth place by Turn 5 - but by Lap 3, Hamilton had begun to slide down the order, with Max Verstappen easing past as their two races went in different directions.

Whereas Verstappen went from 21st to second, Hamilton came home a lapped ninth in his 400th grand prix - the first time he has been lapped since the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. 

In the first stint on the intermediate tyres in the drizzling conditions, drivers were struggling with graining as the surface temperatures skyrocketed with the track drying, with this leading to oversteer in the SF-26 for Hamilton - with the rear attempting to step out on throttle application. 

"I had a really, really great start," Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365.

"It is just unfortunate that we were struggling with our tyres to get them in the window - and after the first few laps, the tyres just started to fall, and the car moved to massive oversteer.

"So unfortunately, we weren't able to progress from there."

Asked if he had any indication as to why the tyres had fallen so dramatically, Hamilton indicated that surface temperature and pressures were factors.

"I think it is a temperature thing, as when the temperature is high, the pressure increases," he said.

"We struggled all weekend for general pace, but once we got onto the slick tyre, we looked a little better."

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Hamilton's crossover

As the track dried, Hamilton was the first driver to stop for slick tyres, doing so on Lap 15, but he described wanting to come in even earlier to try and steal an advantage.

"I was struggling with the tyres, and the track looked like it was in the crossover phase," he said.

"I was like: 'If we can get onto these early and get the temperature up, we can gain some ground here.

"Eventually, we did get onto them, and it may have been one lap later than I'd wanted, but overall it was okay, but then after that, it was really hard to overtake; there was only one [racing] line."