Lewis Hamilton issues emotional British GP apology as Ferrari star shares regrets

Lewis Hamilton apologised to his fans via his Ferrari radio after missing out on a podium at the British Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion was hounding Nico Hulkenberg throughout the closing stages but ran wide after his final pit stop, giving the Sauber driver some breathing room.

The battle for third on Sunday was a game of firsts. Hamilton was chasing his maiden podium in Ferrari colours, and a 13th successive one at the British GP. Hulkenberg, meanwhile, was looking for his first-ever trip to the rostrum. The German veteran had gone 15 years and 238 races without one prior to round 12 of 2025's F1 schedule. Despite having the odds stacked against him, Hulkenberg came out on top, and while there was jubilation in the Sauber garage, Hamilton and Ferrari were left devastated.

On the cooldown lap, race engineer Riccardo Adami hopped on the radio to congratulate his driver on a P4 finish. "That's a P4 mate, good job out there," he told Hamilton. "Well managed.

Hamilton didn't see it the same way, though. "Well, mate, that was pretty bad overall," he hit back. "So much opportunity today that was missed. Thank you, we'll continue to push. And thanks to this mega crowd here, sorry I couldn't bring you home."

In a post-race interview, Hamilton was asked whether or not he and Ferrari got the important calls correct. "Not all of them," he replied. "I think the first one wasn't a good call, clearly, because we got undercut by a bunch of people, so I'm not really sure what exactly happened there.

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"We'll have to go back and see what happened, but I was P4 and came out P8. I chose to come in close to the right time, but it was super tricky when I got back out, and I lost a ton of time. I went off turn three, turn nine... turn 11, so it was just [one of those days]."

While Hamilton was frustrated, his team-mate experienced an even more unpleasant day at the race track. Charles Leclerc's race started on the wrong foot as Ferrari brought him in for a pit stop for slick tyres on the formation lap.

This gamble didn't pay off, and Leclerc found himself mired in a battle at the wrong end of the field. He later had contact with former team-mate Carlos Sainz, and crossed the line in P14, rounding out a miserable weekend at Hamilton's home circuit.