Hamilton gives up in Brazil: "We won't be winning that's for sure"

Lewis Hamilton has ruled himself out of winning the Brazilian Grand Prix after seeing his race pace in the sprint race. The British driver dropped backwards after a good start and even ended up being overtaken by Charles Leclerc and Yuki Tsunoda.

Ahead of the weekend, Hamilton reported that he enjoyed sprint races in Brazil, but he described the 2023 version as "horrible". In 2021, Hamilton started from the back and finished in the midfield. There wasn't any sign of progression this time around.

"It was not enjoyable whatsoever. I had a good start, but after that, I struggled with the balance. Oversteer, understeer. Fighting the car from very early on. Then I had no tyres," Hamilton reported in a conversation with Sky Sports.

In less than 24 hours, Hamilton will compete in the Brazilian Grand Prix. All Formula 1 cars are locked in Parc Ferme, so there is very little Mercedes can do to fix the problems overnight. Hamilton himself isn't sure on how to make it better.

"I don't know how I am going to fix that for tomorrow [Sunday]. It's going to be a long afternoon tomorrow. I can only assume I've got the set-up wrong. It is what it is. I'll fight as hard as I can tomorrow. We won't be winning, that's for sure," Hamilton concluded.