Lewis Hamilton said he spun late in the Brazilian Grand Prix because he didn’t realise the conditions were deteriorating.
The Ferrari driver did not immediately pit to switch to intermediate tyres as his rivals did when the rain returned at the end of the race. He suffered a high-speed spin in the fast corners approaching the pit lane while still on slick tyres.Hamilton explained the exchange of radio messages he had before his spin. “Just at the end, the last message I’d got was that it was going to stay this drizzle. And I was like, okay, this is my moment to keep pushing, because 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 one and it was wet. So that unfortunately lost us a couple of places. But otherwise the team did a great job.”
He started from 20th place due to penalties caused by his power unit change. But after making up 11 places on the first lap – one of which he had to give up for passing Oliver Bearman off the track – Hamilton was passed by several of his rivals.
“I had a great start, but unfortunately the rear tyres just ballooned and overheated and I struggled,” he said.
“Then after that, I was pushing to go onto the slick, which I eventually got on, I think one of the earlier ones. And it was feeling pretty good.
“It was very tricky in those conditions. Then we ended up having an extra [pit] stop, which I think ultimately put me, I had a lot of ground to cover from there.”
Hamilton made one more pit stop than his team mate Charles Leclerc, who finished two places ahead of him in seventh, but the same number as most of his rivals.
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