Lewis Hamilton described his exit from the primary a part of qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix as unacceptable, and apologized to Ferrari after having his quick lap deleted for exceeding observe limits.
On his last lap of Q1, Hamilton was within the drop zone however improved to seventh place and seemed set to progress comfortably, till his time was deleted for not retaining a wheel in touch with the observe cresting the highest of Raidillon. The incident seemed extraordinarily tight however Hamilton was eradicated, and took accountability for what was his second Q1 exit of the weekend.
“Not significantly [more comfortable], I used to be the identical as I used to be final weekend,” Hamilton advised Sky Sports activities. “We made some modifications, the automobile did not really feel horrible … it was even robust for us we needed to put a second set on simply to get by means of Q1 so not nice after which from my aspect one other mistake.
“I’ve received to look internally and apologize to the crew as a result of it is unacceptable to be out in Q1, it is [a] very, very poor efficiency.”
Hamilton discovered the consequence significantly tough to take given how a lot work Ferrari has put in lately, with a brand new rear suspension being examined at Mugello final week and launched at Spa-Francorchamps.
“Simply actually sorry to the crew, we’re doing all of the arduous work, all of the testing and filming day that we did, all of the preparation,” he mentioned. “It’s extremely painful [to be eliminated in Q1]. It’s turning out to be a reasonably dangerous weekend thus far.
“Something can occur right here. I imply, I don’t know. I’ve no clue about tomorrow. It’s going to be arduous from the place I’m [16th]. Undoubtedly a weekend to overlook.”
Hamilton additionally doesn’t anticipate any additional progress from Ferrari this season, with the newest upgrades marking the purpose at which full consideration turns to the 2026 laws.
“There’s an enormous ton of funding in what we’ve got and clearly everyone seems to be working flat out again on the manufacturing unit. We’ve had upgrades however I feel that is in all probability it for the remainder of the yr,” he mentioned. “And I feel the main focus now – again on the manufacturing unit a minimum of – is on subsequent yr’s automobile.”
