Lewis Hamilton and Andrea Kimi Antonelli are unlikely to remember the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix with much fondness at the end of the season.
Despite having two opportunities to do so, neither Lewis Hamilton nor Kimi Antonelli managed to progress beyond Q1 during the Belgian Grand Prix.
Antonelli spun his Mercedes into the gravel on his first flying run of SQ1, while Hamilton encountered an unusual issue that saw him lose control during the final sequence of corners.
Scoring points in the Sprint Race at this point was out of the question, but qualifying for Sunday’s race didn’t go much better.
Damon Hill admitted he was worried about the hype surrounding Antonelli after seeing him look visibly upset after he failed to progress to Q2.
Hamilton thought he’d done enough to go through alongside teammate Charles Leclerc, only for his final lap time to be deleted due to track limits.
Mercedes were suffering throughout the weekend, and Antonelli needed two pit stops to reach the end of the race and never threatened the top 10.
Hamilton produced a tactical masterclass, making up 11 positions to score six unexpected points.
He wasn’t done there, and journalist Tom Clarkson spotted a moment in the media pen between Hamilton and Antonelli that highlighted that he’s still looking out for his old team and the man who replaced him.
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Photo by Mark Sutton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty ImagesLewis Hamilton’s ‘presidential’ moment with Kimi Antonelli at the Belgian Grand Prix
Journalists Juan Fossaroli and Clarkson were speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast about the race at Spa.
Fossaroli said: “George, when he arrives at the pen, he likes to talk, and now today he was furious, even though he finished fifth.
“They won here last year, even though he got disqualified, and now they arrive here and they, as you said, the fifth position, doesn’t even make George happy.
“But Kimi was struggling a lot, and that was also the case yesterday, no?
“He arrived very late to the pen and he looked like he was furious, even crying, because his eyes were all red. And I think he’s struggling a lot with the car.
“He said he had to change a little bit the driving style, and I hope the team can reverse that.”
Clarkson replied: “There was a lovely moment in the TV pen after the race when Lewis went and gave him some comforting words.
“There is definitely a connection between those two drivers. Lewis wants Kimi to go well. He wants him to succeed.
“He is the elder statesman, isn’t he? And he’s got that sort of presidential feel about him, and in the way other people react around him, particularly the rookies.”
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Lewis Hamilton issue spotted from Kimi Antonelli’s car at the Belgian Grand Prix
Hamilton and Antonelli would have expected to be racing at Spa, but not in the position they found themselves in.
Martin Brundle spotted something ‘awful’ on Hamilton’s car from Antonelli’s onboard camera, with the new updates on his Ferrari taking time to get used to.
Speaking to F1 Oversteer, Alex Jacques questioned why Ferrari brought their updates to Spa, knowing they only had an hour of practice to optimise them fully.
Friday 1st August to Sunday 3rd August
Friday 1st August 11:30 1st Practice Friday 1st August 15:00 2nd Practice Saturday 2nd August 10:30 3rd Practice Saturday 2nd August 14:00 1st Qualifying Saturday 2nd August 14:25 2nd Qualifying Saturday 2nd August 14:48 3rd Qualifying Sunday 3rd August 13:00 Race
Hamilton’s performances should improve over the coming races as Fred Vasseur’s team get to grips with their new rear suspension and other bits and pieces added to the car.
From Mercedes’ point of view, it appears that the direction they’ve gone in with their recent development since the front wing flexibility rule change has been the wrong one.
Naomi Schiff wasn’t sure about Antonelli’s claims that he’s lacking confidence, but the car no longer appears to suit his driving style.
Hamilton appears to sympathise with Antonelli’s predicament, and while he won’t want to see him race off into the distance in front of him at the Hungaroring, he won’t want him to be eliminated in Q1 again.