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Hamilton gets Monza grid drop after Ferrari double crash blow

motorsport31 August 2025 14:40| © Reuters
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Lewis Hamilton © Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton will have a five-place grid penalty for his first Italian Grand Prix at Monza as a Ferrari driver next weekend after he failed to slow sufficiently for warning flags at Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix.

The penalty for the infringement while driving to the starting grid at Zandvoort capped a grim weekend for Formula One's oldest and most glamorous team in the run-up to their home race.

 

Seven-time world champion Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc crashed out of the race in separate incidents, a blank that left Ferrari still second overall but 324 points adrift of runaway leaders McLaren.

The non-finish was a first for Hamilton since he moved to Maranello from Mercedes in January in what is proving a challenging season for the 40-year-old Briton.

 

The winner of a record 105 races lost control of his car in the middle of the banked turn three on lap 23 while in seventh place, sliding into the barriers and triggering a safety car deployment.

Hamilton said he was not sure what had happened and apologised to his team.

"As I went up the bank, the rear snapped out and I couldn’t recover," he told Sky Sports. "It was a bit twitchy, the car.

 

"I think we made real progress this weekend. My pace was looking pretty decent. I was catching (Mercedes') George (Russell) and I think I had the pace of a few cars ahead of me."

The crash means Hamilton has now not scored for two races in a row, after finishing 12th in Hungary when he had described himself as useless, and cannot now start higher than sixth at Ferrari's home race.

Sunday was his 15th race for the Italian team and he has yet to stand on the podium with his new employers.

He and Leclerc were disqualified in the Chinese Grand Prix respectively for excessive skid plate wear and having an underweight car.

Leclerc tangled with Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli on lap 53 at Zandvoort, also at turn three and bringing out a safety car. Stewards blamed Antonelli and handed the Italian rookie a 10-second penalty for causing the collision.

"Today hurts. It was a difficult weekend all along, and it ended in the worst way," said the Monegasque, last year's winner at Monza.

 

"Heading to Monza now, which is a special place for me and the whole team. I don’t think we are in the same position as last year, but we will give it everything to recover and make it a great weekend for all our tifosi at home."

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