Ferrari suffered the ignominy of a Q1 exit at the Belgian Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton having his best lap time deleted, leaving him in 16th place for Sunday’s race.
Lewis Hamilton took full responsibility for his “unacceptable” mistake which saw him qualify in the bottom five for the Belgian Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver thought he had made it safely through to the second part of the session on Saturday before his lap time was deleted.
It marked the second time this weekend that he failed to progress in qualifying, after spinning out in the first part of Friday’s session which set the grid for the Sprint race. And Hamilton admitted afterwards that he had no-one to blame but himself.
The frustrated 40-year-old said: “I was the same as I was for the rest of the weekend. We made some changes, the car didn’t feel terrible but it was tough for us because we had to put a second set of tyres on just to get through Q1, so not great.
But from my side, another mistake so I’ve really got to look internally and apologise to the team, because it’s unacceptable to be out in both Q1s. It’s a very, very poor performance for myself.”
Asked what he can achieve in Sunday’s race from so far back on the grid, Hamilton did no offer too much optimism as he lamented the fact F1’s parc ferme rules mean he cannot make any meaningful changes to the set-up on his Ferrari. He said: “There’s not much we can do, so I’ll start from where I am and see where I go from there.”
Hamilton acknowledged that there won’t be any major upgrades coming for his car this season, which has been a tough first year with his new team. He said, “We’ve had some updates, but this is probably it for the rest of the year. It’s been a challenging season.”
Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc had a more positive outcome, expressing surprise at securing third in qualifying. He outpaced Max Verstappen, who will start fourth, and was only behind the two McLaren drivers. “I’m really happy today,” Leclerc said with a smile.
“It’s strange to feel that way when you’re still three-tenths off and in third, but we thought we’d be further behind. That was a great lap, and I loved how the car felt. It took a while to get the most out of the upgrades, but I’ve felt good in the car since the first practice session. It’s satisfying to have a qualifying session where you know you gave everything.”
Lando Norris secured pole position after fending off his teammate and championship rival, Oscar Piastri. The Australian had made a strong statement by dominating the Sprint qualifying the day before, beating the field by half a second.
Norris responded in kind, clinching pole and then running over to celebrate with his Belgian mother, Cisca. Now, after winning at Silverstone, the Brit has his sights set on claiming victory in what he calls his “second home race.”
