Belgian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton – qualifying exit painful

Lewis Hamilton says it was “incredibly painful” to be knocked out in the first session of qualifying and line up 16th for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The seven-time champion set a time just 0.009 seconds slower than team-mate Charles Leclerc in the session but had it deleted for exceeding track limits at the high-speed Raidillon corner.

“It’s incredibly painful,” said Hamilton, who was also knocked out in the first session of qualifying for Saturday’s sprint race, after running wide on one lap and a spin on his second.

“It’s turning out to be a pretty bad weekend so far.

“From my side I made a mistake so I’ve got to look internal and I’ve got to apologise to my team because that is just unacceptable to be out in both Q1s.

“It’s a very poor performance for myself.”

Hamilton said he would review the incident with the stewards to try to understand what had happened.

“Everyone takes that kerb, it’s probably the furthest I’ve been (over it).”

The error was the same as one made by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in the second part of sprint qualifying on Friday, but the Australian had time for another run and managed to progress.

Ferrari introduced a new rear suspension design for this weekend which was aimed at allowing them to run the car lower to create more downforce without running into problems wearing out the underbody too much, as well as improving drivability and feel.

Hamilton has sounded lukewarm about the changes so far this weekend.

After qualifying, he said: “I was the same as I was for the rest of the weekend. We made some changes and the car didn’t feel terrible.

“Just really sorry for the team. All the hard work on the filming day we did and all the preparation and we come here and don’t go through Q1. It’s not acceptable.

“We are trying to do the best with 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 and I think the first focus is now, back at the factory at least, to focus on next year’s car. This season has been a tricky one.”

Leclerc was more positive about the car, after admitting to surprising himself by qualifying ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen behind the McLarens.

Leclerc was 0.338secs behind pole-winner Lando Norris and just 0.003secs ahead of Verstappen, whose last lap was compromised by an error out of the first corner.

Leclerc said: “It’s an upgrade and it’s a step in the right direction but we are still speaking about very fine differences over the whole lap.

“So it feels a little bit different and it’s going in the right direction and again that’s thanks to the hard work that the whole team has done back at the factory.

“Unfortunately for us, McLaren has also brought a few things this weekend and seems to have done a small step in the right direction as well so it’s very difficult to close the gap but I think we are doing a good job as a team and we just need to keep working.”

Rain is expected to hit the Spa track for the grand prix, but F1 rules prevent teams making changes to their cars between qualifying and race.

Hamilton said: “I don’t think there’s really much we can do so I will just start from where I am and see where I can go from there.”