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<\/p>\n\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bLewis Hamilton said he needed to apologise to his Ferrari team after describing his successive early qualifying eliminations at the Belgian Grand Prix as “very poor” and “unacceptable”.<\/p>\n
\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bAmid a miserable Sprint weekend so far for the seven-time world champion at Spa-Francorchamps, Hamilton has failed to clear the first hurdle in either of the event’s two qualifying sessions.<\/p>\n
In Friday’s Sprint Qualifying, the Ferrari driver spun at the end of his final lap in SQ1 and qualified 18th.<\/p>\n
Then, having finished 15th in the short-form Saturday race itself, Hamilton dropped out early again main qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix – this time after a track limits infringement at the top of Eau Rouge on his final lap saw his seventh-quickest time deleted by Race Control.<\/p>\n
The loss of his fastest lap left Hamilton in 16th place on Sunday’s grid, 13 places behind team-mate Charles Leclerc who impressed by beating Sprint victor Max Verstappen to the head of the second row behind the dominant McLaren drivers.<\/p>\n
A disappointed Hamilton made no excuses for his travails, telling Sky Sports F1 after qualifying: “From my side, another mistake.<\/p>\n
“I really have got to look internally.<\/p>\n
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Lewis Hamilton has his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits, meaning he is out in Q1 at the Belgian GP.<\/p>\n
“I have got to apologise to my team because it’s just unacceptable to be out in both Q1s.<\/p>\n
“It’s a very, very poor performance from myself.”<\/p>\n
On how he had felt with the car, which has featured an upgrade to its rear suspension this weekend, said: “We made some changes [for qualifying].<\/p>\n
“The car didn’t feel terrible. It was even tough for us because we had to put a second set [of tyres on] to get through Q1.”<\/p>\n
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Qualifying highlights from the Belgian Grand Prix at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamp.<\/p>\n
Hamilton now faces an uphill battle to even score a handful of points in Sunday’s 44-lap race, although the prospect of Sunday rain may help his chances of producing a drive through the field.<\/p>\n
“I don’t think there’s really much we can do [with the car],” said Hamilton, who had started no lower than fourth in his previous eight Belgian GPs.<\/p>\n
“I will just try and start where I am and see where I can get from there.”<\/p>\n
\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b’Probably it for the rest of the year’ – Hamilton on Ferrari’s 2026 focus shift<\/p>\n
Although Leclerc was both pleased and surprised to qualify as high as third, Ferrari’s gap to the McLarens in qualifying was still three tenths of a second despite the arrival of the SF-25’s new rear suspension.<\/p>\n
Hamilton admits that, with 2026’s huge regulation change now less than six months away, Ferrari’s factory focus is now set to be on F1’s new era.<\/p>\n
“We are trying to do the best with what we have. Everyone is working flat out back at the factory,” he said.<\/p>\n
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Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton spins out of Sprint Qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
“We have had upgrades but that’s probably it for the rest of the year, then I think the focus back at the factory at least is to focus on next year’s car.<\/p>\n
“This season has been a tricky one.”<\/p>\n
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