Lewis Hamilton has spoken out following a frustrating British Grand Prix that saw him narrowly miss out on a podium finish, ending a remarkable 10-year run of consecutive top-three results at Silverstone.
The seven-time world champion, now in his first season with Ferrari, finished fourth behind Nico Hulkenberg, and later revealed that a critical GPS failure left him and the team “completely blind” during key moments of the race.
Speaking after the chequered flag, Hamilton admitted:
“It was one of the toughest races I’ve had here. The conditions were constantly changing, and to add to that, I was basically driving blind. We had no GPS data, so the team couldn’t guide me properly. It really affected our strategy.”
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur confirmed the issue:
“We lost the GPS of Lewis all the race. It means that we are completely blind and didn’t know where the car was. It was a difficult one.”
Without live GPS data, Ferrari were unable to accurately judge Hamilton’s position on track, a crucial element in executing pit strategies. The result was a mistimed undercut attempt when Hamilton was brought in for slick tyres on lap 41—one lap too early.
“I think you can say now that it was probably one lap too early,” Vasseur admitted. “Also because he went straight in Turns 3 and 4 and lost four or five seconds in those corners.”
Hamilton, who had earlier fallen back during a heavy rain shower on lap 12 but recovered well, echoed Vasseur’s view and expressed disappointment:
“Of course I’m gutted not to get on the podium here in front of the home crowd. We had the pace, but without the data, it felt like we were guessing at times. These are the moments where every second counts.”
Despite the setback, Hamilton managed to close the gap on teammate Charles Leclerc in the standings, now trailing by just 16 points. He currently sits sixth in the Drivers’ Championship with 103 points, while Ferrari remains second in the Constructors’ standings with 222 points—well behind McLaren on 460.
As the F1 paddock heads into a three-week summer break, Hamilton will be looking ahead to the Belgian Grand Prix with a renewed focus.
“We’ll regroup, we’ll learn, and we’ll come back stronger,” Hamilton said. “I’ve had worse days, but we’re building something here. There’s more to come.”