Vasseur reveals why Ferrari accepted Hamilton's grid penalty in Brazil

Hamilton had already faced a penalty before the problems began. Ferrari had chosen to give both him and Charles Leclerc a fifth internal combustion engine of the season, resulting in a 10-place grid penalty for each driver. Things then went wrong in FP3. Hamilton first reported vibrations from the engine before telling his team that there was smoke in the cockpit.

He came back to the pits with smoke pouring from the car and played no further part in the session, with more than 20 minutes still left.

After FP3, Ferrari took the power unit out of the car for checks. The team then said it had decided to replace the entire power unit, which meant Hamilton would qualify but start from the back. Vasseur said the uncertainty over the old unit was what forced the decision.

After starting in 20th place, the seven-time world champion finished ninth and scored two points for Ferrari.

On social media, he also shared a heartfelt message after Sunday. He wrote: "Devastated by yesterday’s race, especially with how it ended. It started so well, but we struggled with the tyres and massive oversteer. In those conditions, it made things incredibly difficult. I pushed as hard as I could, but we just didn’t have the pace this weekend. We’ll work to understand why and come back fighting at the next race."

The Briton also added: "To everyone supporting us, thank you for sticking with us through the difficult days as well as the good ones. I feel that support, and I don’t take it for granted."