Hamilton thanks Ferrari for repairs after FP3 crash, targets top three

Lewis Hamilton thanked his Ferrari team for repairing his car after his crash in FP3 at the Belgian Grand Prix, and sees good prospects for moving forward from fifth on the grid on Sunday.

At the end of the final practice session, Hamilton ran wide out of the Fagnes Chicane in similar fashion to Pierre Gasly on Friday, clipping the protruding barrier with his right rear wheel. That caused significant damage to the rear of the car that needed repairing in a two-hour window before qualifying, and Hamilton duly delivered a lap just 0.002s slower than teammate Charles Leclerc.

“I’m massively grateful to the team – the guys were stretched to make sure they got the car ready,” Hamilton said. “The car was feeling the best it felt all weekend in FP3 and then unfortunately I had to go and damage it. So it wasn’t the same car when I got back out, unfortunately, in terms of balance, but I got the best I could out of what I had.

“I think the guys did a great job to repair the car, and these things happen. You move on and I maximized the best I could in qualifying. I think my laps were pretty decent.”

Hamilton believes a podium finish could still be possible for him if the car handles well in race trim, given a tendency for Ferrari to be more competitive on higher fuel loads than in qualifying.

“I think we could have been fighting for the top three today had I not had that problem in P3, so I think still optimistic for tomorrow," he said. "There’s all sorts of chances tomorrow to see if we can get on the podium – that would be awesome.

“I hope [to be stronger in the race]. You know, in P3 the car was feeling really good, and I did a bit of a long run, and the car was feeling great. It is a slightly different, subtly different car setup-wise, so I'm still hoping it's good for tomorrow.”