Lewis Hamilton Reflects On 2021 Brazilian GP: "So Deflated and Powerless"

Lewis Hamilton felt deflated and powerless after being disqualified from the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying due to a technical infringement.

Lewis Hamilton has revealed how he felt after being disqualified from the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying admitting that his "heart just sunk" when he heard the news and that it left him feeling "deflated and powerless". 

A technical infringement concerning the rear wing and DRS was found on the Mercedes W12 after the qualifying. It failed the DRS slot gap measurement by less than 1mm, and with Red Bull alerting the FIA to something fishy, the 7-time world champion was quickly penalised. Max Verstappen was also fined $50,000 for touching and examining the rear wing of the Mercedes in Parc Ferme.

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While the British driver had finished P1 in the weekend's sprint, he was quickly given a challenge on the Sunday where he was now starting at the back of the grid. 

“I remember that moment for me, my heart just sunk, because I knew I had to win every race. And I remember in that moment I thought: ‘it’s over, I can’t win this world championship'," he said in a recent video from Mercedes.

“With all the work that we had done through the year, I just felt so deflated and so powerless. And somehow, and it’s been something that I’ve been able to do my whole career, somehow I was able to move on.

“There’s nothing you can do about the past, you move forwards. I just stayed [back] in the evening and put [the DSQ] aside, I did all the studying. Then came back the next day and I drove from last to first.”

Mercedes didn't appeal the punishment at the time, saying: "We want to win these World Championships on the race track". And while Hamilton was able to push his way up the field to P1 by over 10 seconds, he failed to win the 2021 World Championship after a controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.