Lewis Hamilton shows true colours with Oliver Bearman moment after glum Brazilian GP chat

Lewis Hamilton stopped to embrace Oliver Bearman on his way out of the media pen after qualifying at the Brazilian Grand Prix, showing class as he congratulated his fellow countryman on another strong performance. The 20-year-old qualified eighth for Haas after briefly emerging as an outside contender for pole position.

Hamilton, meanwhile, suffered another frustrating Saturday. After watching long-time rival Max Verstappen succumb to a shock Q1 elimination, the seven-time world champion was knocked out in Q2, finishing behind Fernando Alonso and Alex Albon in the bottom five.

This was the second Q2 elimination in as many days for Hamilton, who was classified 11th in Friday's sprint shootout. The 40-year-old can take some inspiration from that result, though, as he came through the pack to finish seventh and salvage points in the sprint.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1's Craig Slater, Hamilton was in a morose mood. "Just the way that we had it going today," he replied when quizzed about the setup. Asked about his prospects for Sunday's Grand Prix, he gave another gloomy verdict, noting: "Not from where I am. That's the weekend done, pretty much."

However, after stepping away from his interview, Sky F1 cameras picked up Hamilton moving over to congratulate Bearman, who, fresh from a career-best fourth-place finish in Mexico City last time out, put together a complete qualifying showing.

It wasn't all positive for Bearman in Brazil, though. The Essex-born starlet tangled with Liam Lawson during a sprint race battle, picking up a five-second time penalty for squeezing the New Zealander onto the grass on the approach to Turn Four.

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"It's tough to do much in a sprint when you qualify P15, even if that one was very chaotic," he said. "There's no point in commenting on the lap one, Turn Four incident, it's done. We weren't expecting to get back into the points, but the car was quick, and that gives me confidence for later today in qualifying."

In the Ferrari camp, there was at least something to celebrate as Charles Leclerc placed his SF-25 machine into the P3 grid slot. "Everything is so close that it goes from being a disaster of a weekend to a really good weekend in a matter of a few hundredths," the Monegasque racer assessed.

"I'm very happy I was able to put everything together in Q2 and Q3. That was crucial for us because everything was on the limit, and I'm satisfied with that on what has been a difficult weekend for us."