Hamilton apologizes at Ferrari for ‘unacceptable’ Q1 exit | Racer

Lewis Hamilton described his exit from the first part of the qualification for the Belgian Grand Prix as unacceptable and apologized at Ferrari after he had removed his fast round for surpassing the rail limits.

On his last round of Q1, Hamilton was in the drop zone, but improved to seventh place and it seemed to be set up to be comfortable, until his time was removed because he did not keep a wheel in contact with the track that scratches the top of Raidillon. The incident looked extremely tight, but Hamilton was eliminated and took responsibility for what his second Q1 output of the weekend was.

“Not special [more comfortable]I was the same as I was last weekend, “Hamilton told Sky Sports.” We made some changes, the car did not feel terrible … It was even difficult for us, we had to turn on a second set to get through Q1, so not great and then another mistake on my side.

“I have to look internally and apologize to the team because it is unacceptable to be out in Q1, it is [a] Very, very poor performance. “

Hamilton found the result particularly difficult to see how much work Ferrari recently done, with a new rear-wheel suspension last week in Mugello and introduced in Spa-Francorchamps.

“Sorry for the team, we do all the hard work, all the test and film day we have done, all preparation,” he said. ‘It’s incredibly painful [to be eliminated in Q1]. It appears to be a pretty bad weekend so far.

‘Everything can happen here. I mean, I don’t know. I have no idea of tomorrow. It will be difficult from where I am [16th]. Absolutely a weekend to forget. “

This season Hamilton also does not expect any further progress from Ferrari, with the latest upgrades that mark the point where full attention focuses on the regulations of 2026.

“There is a huge ton of investment in what we have and of course everyone works downright in the factory. We have had upgrades, but I think that’s probably the rest of the year,” he said. “And I think the focus now – at least in the factory – is on next year’s car.”