01/09/2025 07:25
Lewis Hamilton has delivered a defiant statement that he is "fine
mentally", following his latest setback this season at the Dutch
Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion made a rare mistake
which saw the Ferrari driver crash at Zandvoort, resulting in an
early end to what had been an improved performance. Hamilton
entered the Dutch GP following a series of staggering comments
before the summer break in Hungary, where he described himself as
"useless". Whilst Charles Leclerc qualified ahead of Hamilton, the
gap between the duo was significantly smaller than usual. It left
Hamilton feeling positive, particularly as he felt comfortable
during the opening 22 laps. However, on lap 23, the 40-year-old
went too high at the banked Turn 3 as light rain fell, causing his
car to snap as he touched the paint at the top of the corner.
Hamilton tried to recover the error but made heavy contact with the
wall, destroying the left-front of his Ferrari. It marked a second
consecutive race without points. To add to what was a disastrous
day for Hamilton, he received a five-place grid penalty for Monza
for a failing to slow under yellow flags on his reconnaissance
laps. Speaking after the race but before visiting the stewards,
the 105-time race winner addressed the rarity of the mistake but
insisted it did not faze him. "I'm fine," Hamilton insisted to
select media, including RacingNews365 . "I feel fine mentally. As I
said, I felt lots of positives. I felt like I was making progress.
"I was catching the car ahead. And yeah, it's tough to have a
result like that for sure. I've been racing for so long. "I've had
god knows how many races in my life, you can probably count on one
hand that sort of incident." For Hamilton, he enters his first
Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver this weekend on the back of
a crash and with a penalty, with him recognising the pressure on
himself and the Maranello-based squad. "I mean, there's obviously a
huge amount of pressure on us as a team, and then more so for me
now because I haven't had a good season," added Hamilton, looking
ahead to Monza. "In Monza, we'll be just trying to absorb all the
energy from the fans."
