Lewis Hamilton reportedly apologised to Sky F1’s Rachel Brookes after a frosty interview in which he bemoaned “what do you want me to say”.

Hamilton had a mixed weekend at the Spanish Grand Prix where he outqualified his team-mate Charles Leclerc for only the second time in a Grand Prix qualifying session.

“‘Lewis Hamilton said: I’m just so down’”

Elated by his performance, he said: “P5 in quali shows the progress we’ve made. The car felt good, so I’m going all in tomorrow, aiming for a podium finish.”

But while Ferrari did achieve a podium, it was Leclerc who joined the McLaren team-mates for the champagne celebrations.

The Monegasque driver had the better pace in the Grand Prix as he brought his SF-25 across the line in third place while Hamilton fell to sixth, even losing a position to the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg late in the race.

Told of his finishing position by his race engineer Riccardo Adami, Hamilton replied: “Unbelieve guys. There’s something wrong with this car, mate. It’s the worst it’s ever been.”

His mood wasn’t any better when he spoke with the media, including an interview with Sky’s Rachel Brookes.

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“It was just not a great day,” he said. “Strategy was good, team did a great job.

“Just…” he ended with a rueful shake of his head.

Brookes told him that it was ‘hard to see’ him in ‘this’ mood, with Hamilton biting back: “What do you want me to say?

“I just had a really bad day, and I’ve got nothing to say. It was a difficult day, there’s nothing else to add to it, it was terrible.

“There’s no point explaining it. It’s not your fault, I just don’t know what else to say.”

Hamilton added the reason for his lack of pace was “probably just me”.

The somewhat snippy interview raised eyebrows with some fans calling out his attitude, while others defended him with the drivers obligated to speak with the media even when emotions are still running high.

Brookes’ colleague David Croft revealed Hamilton apologised to the Sky journalist off camera, telling her he was “just so down” in that moment.

“[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,” Croft said on The Fast and The Curious podcast.

“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”.

“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.”

Speaking to the media after Hamilton’s round in the pen, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur revealed there actually was an issue with Hamilton’s car that hampered him in the final stint. And that, he says, is why the Briton lost out to George Russell and Hulkenberg.

He, however, did not share any details about the exact issue.

“You are experienced enough to draw a conclusion after the first words of the driver,” he said.

“If you want to create a polemic, you can. But it’s not the case. I think he did 70 per cent of the race in front of Russell. I’m not sure that Russell said that the race was a disaster.

“But then we had an issue on the car the last stint, before the Safety Car. The result is not good, but he did 45 laps in front of Russell.”

Hamilton remained P6 in the Drivers’ Championship but now trails Leclerc by 23 points. He is 115 down on championship leader Oscar Piastri.

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