Lewis Hamilton was forced to retire as early as the seventh lap of the Spanish Grand Prix after reporting a brake failure on his Ferrari.
Read more The starting grid changed again in Madrid: one driver will start from the pits
Lewis Hamilton’s Spanish Grand Prix turned into a nightmare after just a few minutes. Starting fourth on the grid in Madrid with the ambition to fight for the podium, the Ferrari driver was forced to retire on the seventh of 57 laps due to a brake problem.
A retirement with particularly heavy consequences for his last hopes in the championship. Hamilton was already 76 points behind Kimi Antonelli before the start and now sees his deficit likely to widen considerably, while the Mercedes driver was in second place at the time of his retirement.
A problem appeared after his duel with Verstappen
Hamilton had nevertheless made an aggressive start to the race. From the first lap, the Briton found himself battling Max Verstappen for third position. The Red Bull driver was then ordered to give the place back to the Ferrari after their battle.
But Hamilton hardly had time to enjoy this third position. His Ferrari quickly began to show a serious brake problem, making the car increasingly difficult to control.
The first signs appeared when he cut the sequence of turns 5 and 6. Moments later, Hamilton locked his front wheels exiting turn 20, going off track and losing several positions.
“I have no brakes left”
The seven-time world champion’s diagnosis was quickly unequivocal. As his pace collapsed and he could no longer slow his car properly, Hamilton warned Ferrari on the radio.
“I have no brakes left.”
The Scuderia then really had no choice but to end his race. Hamilton came into the pits and retired on the seventh lap, becoming the first driver forced to quit this Spanish Grand Prix.
This failure comes at the worst possible time for the Briton. After securing fourth place on the grid on Saturday, less than two tenths behind the pole by Lando Norris, Hamilton could reasonably hope to use his position to aim for another podium.
Read more McLaren impressed by Norris’ «masterpiece» despite a mistake that cost him three tenths
An impressive streak comes to an end
This retirement also ends a remarkable statistic held by Hamilton since the start of the season. Until Madrid, he was the only driver on the grid to have completed all laps contested in Grand Prix and Sprint races in 2026.
One must also go back a long way to find Hamilton’s previous retirement directly linked to a brake problem. The last occurrence was at the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix, when he was still with Mercedes.
Twelve years later, a similar problem prematurely ends his Spanish race, this time with potentially decisive consequences in the fight for the championship.
The title drifts even further away
Before the start, Hamilton was already in a delicate position in the championship, 76 points behind Antonelli. A significant gap but one that still mathematically allowed him to hope to get back into the fight with a series of good results.
The situation becomes much more complicated after Madrid. At the moment Hamilton retired, Antonelli was in second place behind Norris, a position that would earn him 18 points if maintained until the finish. The Ferrari driver’s deficit could therefore reach 94 points by the end of the weekend.
Verstappen was then in third place, ahead of Charles Leclerc and George Russell. Ferrari could therefore still count on its second driver to limit the damage in the constructors’ championship, but Hamilton’s race was already over.
After narrowly missing pole on Saturday and showing his ambition to get on the podium, Hamilton thus leaves Madrid with zero points, which could definitively compromise his chances of winning the world title in 2026.