Hamilton apologizes to Ferrari for ‘unacceptable’ Q1 exit

Lewis Hamilton described his exit from the first part of qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix as unacceptable, and apologized to Ferrari after having his fast lap deleted for exceeding track limits.

On his final lap of Q1, Hamilton was in the drop zone but improved to seventh place and looked set to progress comfortably, until his time was deleted for not keeping a wheel in contact with the track cresting the top of Raidillon. The incident looked extremely tight but Hamilton was eliminated, and took responsibility for what was his second Q1 exit of the weekend.

“Not particularly [more comfortable], I was the same as I was last weekend,” Hamilton told Sky Sports. “We made some changes, the car didn't feel terrible ... it was even tough for us we had to put a second set on just to get through Q1 so not great and then from my side another mistake.

“I've got to look internally and apologize to the team because it's unacceptable to be out in Q1, it's [a] very, very poor performance.”

Hamilton found the result particularly difficult to take given how much work Ferrari has put in recently, with a new rear suspension being tested at Mugello last week and introduced at Spa-Francorchamps.

“Just really sorry to the team, we’re doing all the hard work, all the testing and filming day that we did, all the preparation," he said. “It’s incredibly painful [to be eliminated in Q1]. It’s turning out to be a pretty bad weekend so far.

“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 [16th]. Definitely a weekend to forget.”

Hamilton also doesn’t expect any further progress from Ferrari this season, with the latest upgrades marking the point at which full attention turns to the 2026 regulations.

“There's a huge ton of investment in what we have and obviously everyone is working flat out back at the factory. We have had upgrades but I think that's probably it for the rest of the year," he said. "And I think the focus now – back at the factory at least – is on next year's car.”