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Lewis Hamilton was despondent after getting knocked out in Q1 of qualifying for the Belgian GP. The seven-time F1 champion, who has started on pole six times at Spa in his F1 career, secured a lowly P16 after getting his lap time deleted for track limits.
Hamilton was driving an upgraded SF-25 this weekend, with Ferrari introducing a new rear suspension on its challengers. However, his final attempt to get out of the bottom 5 in Q1 got him from P16 to P7 for a solid minute, before the stewards deleted his lap time of 1.41:664 for exceeding track limits in Turn 4.
That meant Hamilton was knocked out in Q1, with Gabriel Bortoleto getting promoted to Q2. The Briton was distraught in the post-qualifying interview with F1TV.
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"It’s incredibly painful [to be eliminated in Q1]. It’s turning out to be a pretty bad weekend so far," Lewis Hamilton said.
When laying out his expectations for the Belgian GP on Sunday, the Ferrari driver said:
"Anything can happen here. I mean, I don’t know. I have no clue about tomorrow. It’s going to be hard from where I am. Definitely a weekend to forget."
Lewis Hamilton suffered the same fate in Sprint Qualifying on Friday. However, his driver error in SQ1 was worse than exceeding track limits. He locked up his rear tires on the final chicane and spun hard before coming to a dead stop in the runoff area.
In the post-sprint qualifying interview, he admitted that the spin-inducing rear lock-up was a 'career first'. Though the Scuderia driver expected better performance in the Sprint Race on Saturday, he could do no better than a P15 finish.
Lewis Hamilton's distressed radio message after getting knocked out in Belgian GP qualifying
Lewis Hamilton had a short but gut-wrenching exchange on his team radio after his final lap in Q1 during the Belgian GP qualifying. During his in-lap after the checkered flag waved, he asked his race engineer Riccardo Adami if 'everything was okay'.
"Track limits at Turn 4," Adami replied.
A shocked Hamilton asked:
"Am I out?"
"Yeah, lap time deleted. P16," said his engineer.
This short exchange was followed by radio silence before Hamilton made it to the pits and hopped out of the car. He will start P16 on the grid for the Belgian GP on Sunday.
Lando Norris took pole position at Spa, with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri locking out the first row for the Woking outfit. Lewis Hamilton's teammate Charles Leclerc, who started and finished in P4 in the Sprint race, fared much better. The Monegasque will start P3 on the grid for the Belgian GP, with Max Verstappen alongside him on the second row.
