The timing was the entire point. Speaking to reporters after the São Paulo Grand Prix, Vasseur said Ferrari ripped out Hamilton’s complete power unit on Saturday because leaving the suspect engine in would have risked a fresh penalty one race later, in Las Vegas.
“We had a doubt when we were not sure to be able to reuse the engine. I didn’t want to take a risk and have another issue later on during the weekend and take a penalty for Vegas,” Vasseur told reporters, as quoted by PlanetF1. “As we were between FP3 and quali, the change of engine was for free.”
The decision dropped Hamilton to the back of the grid at Interlagos. The FIA confirmed 65 places in total: a 5-place penalty for an additional internal combustion engine, plus 10-place penalties for a new turbocharger, exhaust, energy store, control electronics, MGU-K and ancillary power unit components.
Smoke in the cockpit triggered the swap
Hamilton’s FP3 ended in trouble when he reported engine vibrations and then smoke drifting into the cockpit. Ferrari stripped the car, decided the unit was not worth gambling on, and issued a short statement confirming the full swap. He still took part in qualifying and placed 11th before being demoted to 20th on the grid.
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From the back to the points
Hamilton made a brilliant opening lap, picked up positions early, and brought the Ferrari home in ninth for two points. The real headline, though, belonged to Mercedes: Lando Norris won the race in wet conditions, and the Silver Arrows sealed the 2026 Constructors’ Championship. Max Verstappen, also serving a grid drop, recovered from 21st to finish second.
Hamilton praised the mechanics for the overnight rebuild. “They have done a really great job, especially all the mechanics in switching the engines and making sure the car was as good as it could be,” he told The Herald.
Vegas is the race Ferrari protected
The calculation now plays out on the Strip. The Las Vegas Grand Prix runs on Saturday, 21 November, with lights out at 8pm local time, and Hamilton goes into the weekend with fresh power unit elements and no engine question hanging over the car.
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