Hamilton's unheard Brazil radio reveals Ferrari could not tell him where he was running

Hamilton started 20th and finished ninth. Race winner Lando Norris also lapped him. GPblog has already covered Hamilton's explanation for the spin, along with Fred Vasseur's view on tyre pressures. The new radio fills in the rest of the race around those two moments, highlighting another weakness in the team.

Questions about position come up again and again in the excerpts. Early on, Santi told Hamilton he had to give a place back to Oliver Bearman because he had gone off track. Hamilton then asked what position he had "fricking fallen back to", and Santi answered P13. The stewards later ruled that Hamilton had "gained no advantage" by passing Bearman off track.

The questions kept coming as the pit stops spread the order out. Hamilton asked "What position are we?" and later "What position am I in?", and he also complained that he was stuck behind Norris. Santi described the picture as follows: "So we are trying to undercut Hulkenberg and closing on Russell, we are fighting P7, Norris didn't stop yet, he's the race leader."

The clearest exchange came near the end, when the rain returned. Santi called Hamilton in, and Hamilton swore before admitting "I missed the pit lane." When he asked about his position again, Santi first said he did not know. Hamilton shot back:

Santi then told him to let Norris by, saying they were P9 and racing the car behind. Hamilton told his engineer a lap later that he had thought he could stay out, and Santi replied that it "was a shame".

This is not the first time this season that radio has raised the same question. At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in September, Santi told Hamilton the safety car had been deployed just after he went past the pit entry.

The exchange under Hamilton's line "was no one watching that happen?" He held sixth and finished there anyway. Afterwards, Robert Doornbos compared the pairing's communication to Hamilton's earlier problems with Riccardo Adami.

In Singapore in October, the problem was reversed. Santi asked Hamilton to pit under the Virtual Safety Car, but he stayed out and later apologised over the radio: "Sorry, guys. I let you down with that strategy, it was my decision." He also confirmed then that he had missed the pit lane, so Interlagos was the second time in two months that a late call and a pit entry did not line up.

Santi originally took the role on an interim basis after Hamilton changed engineers following his first Ferrari season, and he has stayed on the pit wall throughout 2026. Hamilton is fourth in the standings on 261 points.

Las Vegas comes next, and Ferrari already have tyre concerns there. The Brazil radio adds a question the team will want answered before then: whether Hamilton is getting the information he needs in the car.