Lewis Hamilton reveals 'ballooned' moment that played havoc in Sao Paulo

Lewis Hamilton has revealed that the rear tyres on his first stint in his Ferrari "ballooned and overheated" during a chaotic São Paulo Grand Prix

From the 20th on the Interlagos grid following a multitude of power unit penalties, Hamilton started brilliantly, rising to ninth by the end of the first lap.

But from there, his race slowly unravelled, initially on the opening set of intermediates in the wet conditions before making a superb early call to switch to the soft slicks.

Running on a second set of soft Pirellis late in the race, Hamilton spun up the hill as he was preparing to return to the pits for a new set of inters, kissing a barrier with the rear wing of his SF-26 as he tried to control the slide.

The seven-time F1 champion ultimately finished ninth and a lap down on race winner Lando Norris in his McLaren.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the race, Hamilton explained how the handling problems hit almost immediately once the lights went out.

"A really tough day and weekend for the whole team, but they've done a really great job, switching out the engine, making sure the car was as strong as it could be," said Hamilton.

"We struggled in the dry, but I had a great start. Unfortunately, the rear tyres just ballooned and overheated, and I then struggled.

"After that, I was pushing to go to the slicks, which I eventually got on. I was one of the earlier ones, and was feeling pretty good. It was very tricky in those conditions.

"And then we ended up having an extra stop, and I had a lot of ground to cover from there.

"At the end, the last message I got was that it was going to stay drizzling, and I was like, 'Okay, this is my moment to keep pushing', and I could stay in those conditions.

"I didn't hear that it was raining more in the first sector, and I passed the pit lane, got to Turn 1 and it was wet, so that unfortunately lost us a couple of places, otherwise, the team did a great job."

With three rounds remaining in the season, Hamilton admitted he was unsure what to expect from Ferrari's pace heading into the final stretch.

"I really don't know where we're going to be in the next races, but we've had a really good car in the past races," he said. "This weekend was a bit of a struggle.

"I think that the team deserved a better result. But we live and we learn, and we will come back and try and fight harder at the next one."