Lewis Hamilton remained determined and optimistic after a turbulent weekend at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, describing his current season with Ferrari as a “nightmare.”

Both Hamilton and his teammate Charles Leclerc were forced to retire from the race in Brazil, where Hamilton holds honorary citizenship. Hamilton endured 40 laps in a damaged car after multiple incidents and a penalty, while Leclerc was taken out on lap six following a collision in which he was an innocent victim.

“It’s a nightmare,” Hamilton admitted. “I’ve been living it now for a while, and the flip between living the dream of driving for this amazing team and then the nightmare of the results that we’ve had. The ups and downs. It’s challenging, but tomorrow I’ll get back up. I’ll keep training and I’ll keep working with the team. I really wanted to get them good points this weekend, but I’ll come back as strong as I can in the next race and try to recover.”

Hamilton stressed that despite the setbacks, he remains committed to Ferrari and confident that improvement lies ahead.

“We are really having to fight through these hardships at the moment, but I believe there is something up ahead in my life and in my destiny. Truly, I still believe in this team and what we can achieve. I just have to keep pushing and never give up.”

This season has been particularly difficult for Hamilton, who has now gone 21 races without a podium, marking an unwanted low for a Ferrari driver. His misfortune continued at Interlagos, where he suffered incidents on the opening lap and was handed a five-second penalty after contact with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Carlos Sainz, whom he replaced at Ferrari this year.

“I don’t really know what happened at Turn One, but obviously it’s not great to be hit and after that the car was just gone. But that’s how it has been this season. It’s obviously a disaster, a stress, and a disappointment for everyone in the team. But I’m trying to keep my head above water. I’m trying to remain positive. Charles did a great job in qualifying yesterday, so there is some performance in our car, and I agree that at this point I just have to believe that something will come out of all these hardships we’re going through.”

Despite a season full of setbacks, Hamilton’s resilience and determination suggest he is focused on turning things around as Ferrari looks to close the gap in the championship standings.