‘That was one of the worst races’ – Hamilton reflects on his ‘horrendous’ Sprint in Sao Paulo

Lewis Hamilton struggled to eke out any performance in his Mercedes during the Sprint at Interlagos, describing his session as ‘one of the worst races’ he has driven on his way to a P11 finish.

After a tough Sprint Qualifying saw him make an early exit in SQ2, the Mercedes driver was keen to reset ahead of the rest of the weekend and take a step forward during the Sprint itself and qualifying for the Grand Prix.

READ MORE: ‘I just don’t have any confidence in the car’ – Hamilton dismayed after Sprint Qualifying struggles in Sao Paulo

However, a less than ideal start to the 24-lap event saw the former world champion lose three places to the midfield cars surrounding him, leaving him far off the points paying positions in P14.

Hamilton managed to recover those lost spots over the course of the race, but got stuck in a DRS train which made overtaking even harder – he eventually crossed the line in P11, reclaiming his qualifying position but scoring zero points.

Asked how the car felt, he said: “Horrendous! Honestly it felt really terrible today, even worse than it did in qualifying.

“Definitely a very difficult race, that was one of the worst races. I felt the car just sliding around and zero grip behind even the Williams.

READ MORE: Norris takes victory in the Sao Paulo Sprint ahead of Piastri after McLaren driver switch

“I could barely keep up with them for a period of time. Lots of work to do to try and change the car, flip it on its head for quali.”

Hamilton has struggled with qualifying pace on numerous occasions this season, especially since Mercedes’ downturn in form after the summer break, but he has usually gained some performance during races.

While the seven-time world champion was sandwiched in the results by the Williams duo of Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto, his Mercedes team mate George Russell took three points after finishing in sixth place.

READ MORE: Norris ‘not proud’ after team orders in Sao Paulo Sprint but hails Piastri and McLaren for ‘great job’

Despite scoring, he found himself in no man’s land towards the end of the Sprint, almost five seconds behind Carlos Sainz with a slightly larger gap back to the Alpine of Pierre Gasly.

“I think we finished exactly where we expected beforehand, exactly halfway between the front five and the midfield teams,” Russell summarised. “We’re going to try and make some improvements into this afternoon and tomorrow but we’re not suddenly going to be able to make a race-winning car overnight. We just have to accept that’s where we are right now.”