Heartbroken Hamilton apologised to Sky Sports reporter over interview gone wrong

16:39, 08 Jun

byNorberto Mujica

Sky Sports commentator David Croft has revealed that Lewis Hamilton apologised to Sky Ports reporter Rachel Brooks over a scathing post Spanish Grand Prix interview.

The race in Montemeló did not go well for Hamilton as the Briton had to let faster teammate Charles Leclerc by in the early stages of the race, and was overtaken by Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg in the dying phases of the Grand Prix to come home in a P7 which would then translate to P6 following Max Verstappen's fall down the order due to his 10 second penalty for his clash with Russell.

During the interview with Brookes on Sky Sports Hamilton was asked about his comments that suggested something was wrong with his Ferrari SF-25: "Not particularly. It was not a great day. The strategy was good, the team did a great job. Just, that's it."

Brookes then replied: "I hate seeing you in this mood," to which Hamilton responded downbeat: "Well what do you want me to say? I had a really bad day and I've got nothing to say. It was a difficult day, I've got nothing else to add to it. There's no point explaining it. It's not your fault, I've just not got anything to say."

Then Brookes stated she hopes Ferrari could find a way to fix the woes he's experiencing behind the wheel of the Ferrari F1 car, to which Hamilton replied taking on the full responsibility: "I'm sure they won't, the answer is probably just me."

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in Barcelona

Croft reveals 'greatest driver ever' Hamilton apologised to Brookes

Speaking on The Fast and The Curious podcast, Sky Sports' F1 commentator David Croft revealed that the seven-time world champion apologised to the interviewer for his downbeat comments.

"[Lewis Hamilton] was really down on himself, and no one likes to see that because at the end of the day, whether you're a fan or not, Lewis Hamilton is the greatest racing driver we've ever seen."

"Statistically, he is the greatest. I think he's the greatest even without the stats. He wears his heart on his sleeve and should be applauded for that because it does a lot of good when he wears his heart on his sleeve."

"He did apologise to Rachel Brookes for being so down in the dumps off camera. He said, 'I'm really sorry about that, I'm just so down'".

Hamilton's SF-25 experienced damage in the ongoings of the Spanish Grand Prix, which could explain the difference in performance between him and Ferrari teammate Leclerc, something Croft makes note of.

"And that just shows the extent that he really was down. He's not putting this on for the cameras, trust me. And once again, it's right after the race. He's not had time for a debrief. He's not had time to have a chat with his race engineer. So he probably didn't know the extent of whatever damage the car had at the time he spoke to Rachel."

"And he probably didn't realise that it was the car that was hindering him more so than his driving in that one."

"And look, when you're in a Ferrari and you're overtaken by Nico Hulkenberg, albeit in a Ferrari-powered Sauber, you're going to question, 'Is it me really? Am I doing something wrong here?' Because it just didn't go for him really from the outset," concluded Croft.