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Lewis Hamilton had another heartbreak at Spa after a nightmare qualifying session for the Belgian GP. The Ferrari driver got knocked out in Q1 after the stewards deleted his lap time for track limits on his final lap in the session.
Hamilton was in the danger zone with around three minutes to go in the session. Ferrari sent him out for one final push, and he delivered to move from P16 to P7 with a lap time of 1.41:664. However, while he was still on the inlap, the stewards deleted his lap time for exceeding track limits in Turn 4, before the Kemmel straight.
Even before getting the news, the seven-time F1 champion sensed something was wrong. On his team radio, he asked:
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"Is everything okay?"
"Track limits at Turn 4," replied his race engineer Riccardo Adami.
Lewis Hamilton couldn't believe it, as he followed up with:
"Am I out?"
"Yeah, lap time deleted. P16," came the disappointed reply from Adami.
Gabriel Bortoleto was the driver Hamilton knocked out in Q1 before F1 deleted his lap time. However, Bortoleto made it into the Top 15 once the Ferrari driver was demoted.
When the Sauber driver's race engineer informed him about the promotion into Q2, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh **** yes," he replied on team radio.
P16 will be Lewis Hamilton's final starting position at the 2025 Belgian GP on Sunday, provided no other driver takes any unforeseen penalties before the race.
Lewis Hamilton "frustrated" after an unusual 'career first' spin in Sprint qualifying at Spa
Lewis Hamilton's Belgian GP weekend began with an undesirable 'career first' during Sprint qualifying on Friday. The Briton locked up his rear tires on his final lap in SQ1, spun, and beached his car in the runoff before the last corner. He began the Sprint race from the penultimate row.
After the session, Hamilton was visibly upset. In an interview, when he was asked if rear locking caused his incident, he said, via F1:
"Mhhm. First time, I think, in my career. Not great, not great. Not really a lot to say."
Elaborating on his outlook for the Sprint race, the seven-time champion added:
"Tomorrow’s a new day. Obviously, I’m massively frustrated. A lot of work has gone in and to be there is not great. Hopefully, tomorrow is going to be better."
Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot the 40-year-old could do in the short, 15-lap Sprint. He gained three positions to go from P18 to P15, but left without any points. Hamilton spoke about Ferrari's new upgrades after the Sprint race and pointed to those as the potential cause of his spin in sprint qualifying the day before.
