Lewis Hamilton apologises to Ferrari after a disappointing F1 Japanese GP

Lewis Hamilton had a disappointing outing at the Japanese Grand Prix. The seven-time champion finished P7 on the road, a mediocre result that was set up from his sub-optimal qualifying effort yesterday. Discontented with his race, Hamilton apologized to Ferrari for the result after the chequered flag fell.

The Briton joined the Maranello-based squad in a bid to fulfill his dream and get the eighth title he has eluded for so long. However, his successor at Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli, has outscored the 40-year-old throughout the three race weekends held so far.

Moreover, Hamilton suffered a disqualification at the Chinese Grand Prix, despite bagging a Sprint win earlier in the weekend. With high hopes of getting a good result at the next race in Japan, the Briton suffered a torrid race weekend.

Lewis Hamilton qualified eighth for the race, even behind Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar. While he was able to make his way through the young rookie early in the race, he did not make a significant dent into the top six.

This led him to finish seventh at a track where he has won four times. Unhappy with his race result, he came over the team radio after the 53 laps were done and apologized to Ferrari for the disappointing result, as he said:

"Sorry for the result guys. Didn’t have the pace today but I’m grateful you continue to push. Maybe next race will be better."

There was also some rain forecast for the race, which did not come true as the race was run under dry conditions.

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Lewis Hamilton had hoped for rain at the Japanese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton at the 2025 F1 Grand Prix Of Japan - Source: Getty

While there were showers at the Suzuka Circuit the night before, the forecast did not come true as no rainfall was received during the 53-lap duration of the race. With Lewis Hamilton already suffering a mediocre qualifying a day before, he revealed the aspects that led to his eventual qualification in eighth and how he hoped for a rain-struck race on Sunday, and said (via RacingNews365):

"That's usually the knock-on effect from the weekend like we had before... if you have a qualifying like I've just had, you hope for rain."

On the other hand, pole-sitter Max Verstappen won the race despite attempts by the McLaren pair to get ahead of the Dutchman. Lando Norris and Verstappen had a close call exiting the pitlane on lap 22, where the Briton drove onto the grass, alleging the Red Bull driver to be at fault.

However, the 27-year-old was not deemed responsible for Norris' off-track venture and led the race with no excursions. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri celebrated his birthday with a podium finish at a track, where he got his maiden top-three result in a Grand Prix in 2023.

Lando Norris leads the drivers' championship with a solitary point margin between him and Max Verstappen.