LEWIS HAMILTON slammed F1 stewards as a “complete joke” before retiring on lap 40 after a nightmare Brazilian Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion picked up damage at the start which led to an early pit stop, before he was slapped with a five-second time penalty.
It was a woeful start for Hamilton, who is an honorary Brazilian citizen, as he dropped a whopping five places all the way down to 18th after tangling with Carlos Sainz.
And later on in the lap he ran into the back of Franco Colapinto on the main straight and damaged his front wing.
Gabriel Bortoleto, who was born in Sao Paulo, crashed again after his sprint race smash, as he was squeezed by Lance Stroll and had nowhere to go apart from spinning into the wall.
An early safety car was called out on lap two as Hamilton pitted for a new front wing while Bortoleto’s car was still being cleared.
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Hamilton’s afternoon was going from bad to worse with him saying on the team radio before his second pit stop: “Mate, I’m going to crash out here. I’ll keep trying. The car is crazy unstable.”
Hamilton was then looking sluggish in 17th place and then on lap 29 was hit with a five-second time penalty for causing that early collision with Colapinto in the opening lap.
The Brit was left seething with the stewards after receiving another time penalty and fumed on his team radio: “These guys are a joke. A complete joke.”
His nightmare was over on lap 40 as he retired in the Ferrari garage in Brazil, broken in the country which has always been so close to his heart.
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Meanwhile, McLaren’s Lando Norris wrapped up a dream weekend for his title hopes with another win.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished second for Mercedes.
While Max Verstappen came third for Red Bull.
It saw Norris extend his lead at the top of the championship with just three races left.
F1 next heads to Las Vegas later this month, before ending the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
