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August 31, (THEWILL) — Ferrari experienced their first race retirement with Lewis Hamilton when the seven-time world champion crashed during the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort on Sunday.
Hamilton lost control of his car at the banked turn three on lap 23 while running in seventh position, sliding into the barriers and prompting immediate safety car deployment.
The 40-year-old immediately apologised to his team via radio after confirming he remained uninjured from the incident.
Before the crash, Hamilton had suggested making a pit stop to gain track position over Mercedes driver George Russell, though the subsequent safety car period negated any potential strategic advantage.
McLaren’s Lando Norris, who was running second at the time, questioned his race engineer about whether wet conditions on the white line contributed to Hamilton’s accident.
When informed this was indeed the case, Norris criticised the lack of earlier warning about the dangerous track conditions, describing the information as potentially race-ending.
The retirement extends Hamilton’s current point-scoring drought to two consecutive races, following his disappointing 12th-place finish in Hungary where he described his own performance as inadequate.
Sunday marked his 15th race for the Italian manufacturer since his January transfer from Mercedes, yet the 105-race winner has failed to achieve a single podium finish with his new team.
Ferrari’s season has been marked by technical difficulties, with both Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc facing disqualification from the Chinese Grand Prix due to excessive skid plate wear and an underweight car respectively.
The incidents continue to hamper the team’s championship aspirations as they struggle with reliability issues throughout the campaign.
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Jude Obafemi, THEWILL
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
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