Lewis Hamilton had a torrid time in Sao Paulo as he finished a lap down in P9, and he was even overtaken by the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.

The Sao Paulo Grand Prix was always going to be a tough challenge for the seven-time champion. Hamilton was hit with a 65-place grid penalty for engine component changes, dropping him to P20 for the race.

Lewis Hamilton said Fernando Alonso battle was ‘good’ before walking off TV interview

Ferrari struggled in the wet conditions, with Leclerc finishing eighth, 78 seconds behind race winner Lando Norris. Hamilton finished behind him in ninth after making the wrong strategy call.

The early rain shower dried up in the middle of the race, before the heavens opened again for the final few laps. While the frontrunners pitted for intermediate tyres, Hamilton opted to stay out on slicks.

This immediately proved the wrong decision as he spun at the final corner. Hamilton’s engineer was not too impressed with his call as he finished a lap down.

It was a frustrating afternoon for the 41-year-old, which saw him get overtaken by an Aston Martin. Former teammate Alonso passed him around the outside into turn five during the race.

Getting overtaken by the AMR26, given how unreliable and uncompetitive it has been in 2026, must be tough to swallow, and Hamilton did not seem too impressed in the media pen.

Speaking to DAZN, he was asked about his battle with Alonso, to which he simply said: “Good,’ before walking off. The tense reaction is quite telling about his mood.

While it was misery for Ferrari, it was all positive at Aston Martin, as Alonso enjoyed a hugely encouraging weekend. He found himself in Q3 for the first time this season and qualified P8.

He did slip back in the race to P12, but he enjoyed a strong showing with some brilliant overtaking. Alonso praised Aston Martin’s ‘phenomenal’ corner strength as he found himself fighting with Ferraris.

Speaking after the race in the media pen, Alonso even felt that Aston Martin could have been ‘one second faster per lap’ than the Mercedes if they had equal pace on the straights.

The Spaniard told F1TV: “I think it was probably the best race for the car feeling. The car was phenomenal on the corners and, as you said, we were battling with Ferraris, and even now, the last five laps on the inters, we were in the mix with the two Mercedes.

“One lap down, but we were with the Mercedes. Taking into account how much we lose in the straights, it means that probably today we could have been maybe one second faster than them per lap. Like I said, the car was phenomenal.”