Lewis Hamilton crashes out of Dutch GP

ZANDVOORT, Netherlands — Lewis Hamilton crashed out of the Dutch Grand Prix as his difficult first season as a Ferrari driver continued.

The seven-time champion crashed out of seventh place on Lap 23 of 72 as light rain started to fall around the circuit.

He had just radioed Ferrari to encourage the team to pit him when he appeared to take too much speed into the banked Turn 3, lost the rear of his Ferrari on the painted advertising lining the corner, and crashed into the barrier.

Although Hamilton was unharmed, the damage to the front of his car meant he was unable to continue in the race and he retired on the spot.

It was Hamilton’s first retirement from a race as a Ferrari driver and his first failure to finish a grand prix since Austin last year when he was still a Mercedes driver.

He has struggled for performance since his arrival at Ferrari at the start of the season, but was happier with his seventh-place qualifying in Zandvoort than he had been ahead of the break at the Hungarian Grand Prix when he labelled himself “useless.”

Ahead of this weekend’s race in the Netherlands, Hamilton said he hoped to rediscover his love of F1 in the second half of the year after admitting the pressure since joining Ferrari had sapped his enjoyment of the sport.