Lewis Hamilton furious at Carlos Sainz for blocking him during the F1 Japanese GP qualifying

Carlos Sainz's on-track maneuver left Lewis Hamilton displeased after the Williams driver came in the way of Hamilton during Q2 of the Japanese GP. As a result of the ordeal, Hamilton roared on the team radio and complained about the former Ferrari man.

The incident occurred during Hamilton's final flying lap in Q2 when Sainz unintentionally impeded him. Hamilton was closing in to take the inside line at Turn 1, but Sainz's Williams was right in front of him.

Additionally, when Hamilton wanted to move around the outside, he was once again impeded by Sainz and lost ample time in the exit. As soon as the incident took place, Hamilton hit out on the radio, thinking it was Albon instead of Sainz,

“Albon just… got slow… Sh*t," Hamilton said on the radio. "Blocked me big time into Turn 1. Are we safe?”

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Thanks to the time he set earlier in Q2, he was safe. The seven-time world champion had over two-tenths of a buffer time over Alex Albon, the driver in P10 in Q2. However, Sainz went out in P12 after he failed to match his teammate, Albon.

The FIA called in for an investigation into Carlos Sainz's impeding of Lewis Hamilton after the session. Max Verstappen of Red Bull claimed the pole position ahead of Lando Norris of McLaren. Hamilton ended up in P8 with Albon at P9.

Lewis Hamilton has full faith in Ferrari after Chinese GP disqualification

Ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton confirmed that he has full faith in Ferrari despite the Chinese GP disqualification. Speaking about this in an interview, Hamilton told the media,

Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Scuderia Ferrari SF-25 at the Japanese Grand Prix - Source: Getty Images

"I saw someone said something about whether I'm losing faith in the team, which is complete rubbish. I have absolute 100% faith in this team."

"There was obviously a huge amount of hype at the beginning of the year. I don't know if everyone was expecting us to be winning from race one and winning the championship in our first year. That wasn't my expectation. I know that I'm coming into a new culture, a new team and it's going to take time."

The FIA disqualified the Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc from the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix after Hamilton's car had more than permissible plank wear and Leclerc's car was underweight.

About the author

Sabyasachi Biswas is a passionate motorsport journalist for Sportskeeda, with a Master's degree in Mass Communication and Journalism. He has over eight years of experience in the field and has over 10000 published articles on the internet.

As a dedicated follower of motorsport, Sabyasachi watches events closely, ensuring his reports are thorough and supported by reputable sources. He is inspired by Max Verstappen’s fearless attitude and dreams of attending the Indian GP if it returns to the calendar. An ardent F1 fan over the years, he enjoyed watching Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel and is now following Verstappen's dominant journey on the track.

Apart from F1, he is a big-time NASCAR and football (also soccer) fan. Sabyasachi supports Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports and Spanish club, Real Madrid.

He was a sub-junior level footballer and won inter-district quizzes and debate competitions back in school. A travel freak by nature, Sabyasachi likes to try different cuisines and learn about new cultures. When away from his keyboard, he enjoys soccer, geopolitics, and playing with Khushi & Ubbu - his adorable beagles.

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Edited by Anisha Chatterjee