Follow us on Google Discover Christian Danner has called Ferrari star Lewis Hamilton out for his actions in the 2025 F1 Singapore Grand Prix, plus his comments after the Briton’s P8 finish at Marina Bay.
The 40-year-old’s wait for his first Grand Prix podium as a Ferrari driver has now spanned 18 rounds following his latest disappointing result in red. Hamilton had never failed to finish on a Grand Prix podium beyond the first 10 races of any F1 season prior to joining the Scuderia.
Hamilton has also failed to finish higher than P6 since the seven-time champion matched his best result as a Ferrari driver so far of P4 in July’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, six rounds ago. A time penalty received after the Singapore GP also did not cause his plight to persist.
Hamilton earned a five-second penalty in the Singapore GP for exceeding track limits, which demoted the Ferrari driver from P7 to P8 after the chequered flag. The Stevenage-born star struggled to stay on the road throughout the final lap, after he developed a late brake issue.
Photo by Clive Rose – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty ImagesChristian Danner was ‘horrified’ watching Lewis Hamilton continue with a brake issue in the Singapore Grand Prix
Hamilton enraged Fernando Alonso in the Singapore GP by skipping Marina Bay’s chicanes to try to get his Ferrari to the chequered flag after losing most of his braking performance. He lost 51.202 seconds to the Aston Martin driver after the problem arose on Lap 59 of 62.
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Position Drivers’ Championship PointsPts 1 336 2 314 3 273 4 237 5 173 6 127 7 88
Alonso even hit the finish line only 0.416s behind Hamilton, who was chasing Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes over P5 before the issue occurred. So, Alonso turned Aston Martin’s radio blue with his foul-mouthed rant, claiming “You can’t drive like that” as it was unsafe.
Danner “certainly” agrees with Alonso’s view, as he was “horrified” watching Hamilton limp his Ferrari SF-25 home in the Singapore GP with the front-left brake not working fully. There were visible sparks leaving the brake, but Hamilton downplayed the problem after the race.
“You can’t say it’s completely safe to drive a car around the track with three brake discs,” Danner told Motorsport-Magazin. “Excuse me but, normally, you have to stop immediately in a situation like that – even if there’s only one lap left.
“I have to say, I was horrified. And in that sense, you can certainly agree with Alonso, or rather understand why he was so annoyed.”
What did Lewis Hamilton say about his brake problem in the Singapore GP?
Hamilton had only just got within range to attack Antonelli for P5 in the Singapore GP when his brake issue arose on L59. Ferrari had pitted him for a second time to switch onto the soft compound C5 Pirelli tyres on L46, along with ordering Charles Leclerc to let the Briton past.
But the 105-time Grand Prix winner never got a real chance to overtake the Italian rookie, as sparks left his front-left drum while braking for Turn 16. Hamilton instantly noticed the issue, so he backed off. But his decision to also cut the chicanes in the final laps merited a penalty.
Hamilton told Sky Sports after the Singapore GP that reducing his pace meant the brake did not fail completely. The issue stemmed from Ferrari running smaller brake discs than any F1 team to try to reduce drag, but the material wore out quicker due to the brakes overheating.
“I was catching Kimi then the brakes gave up,” Hamilton said. “You saw the spark coming off the left front. I had to back off to cool them down, and when I cooled them down, they came back a bit, but still not fully there.”
Leclerc had a brake issue from Lap 7 of the Singapore GP, as well, which ensured he did not push as much as Hamilton tried to. The Monegasque’s more withheld approach helped him to finish the race in P6, 34.67s up the road from Alonso, after he re-passed Hamilton late on.