SINGAPORE — Scuderia Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton required immediate attention from the FIA medical team and was absent from the mandatory post-race media pen after a punishing 62-lap Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, where he finished a disappointing sixth after running comfortably in the podium places.
A Ferrari spokesperson confirmed the seven-time world champion felt unwell after stepping out of the SF-26 cockpit. "A Ferrari spokesperson says that Hamilton felt unwell after the race and was seen by the FIA medical team," Luke Smith reported. As a direct result of his condition, Hamilton was granted permission by the governing body to skip all standard post-race media obligations, a statement also verified by RacingNews365, which noted the veteran driver was thoroughly checked over by track doctors due to the intense physical rigors of the street circuit.
The physical toll of the extreme heat and humidity was compounded by a critical strategic setback mid-race. After ignoring a pit call from the Ferrari pit wall during a late virtual safety car period, Hamilton was forced to wrestle his car around the demanding layout on heavily degraded older tires. That lack of grip left him powerless to defend track position in the closing stages, when he was passed by Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli and both McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to plummet down the running order.
It is not the first time the suffocating Marina Bay climate has taken a toll on the British driver. During the 2024 campaign, both Hamilton and his then-Mercedes teammate George Russell also felt severely unwell following the checkered flag in Singapore.