Lewis Hamilton smashes up Ferrari in Belgian GP qualifying blow | F1 | Sport
Ferrari are in a race against time to get Lewis Hamilton‘s car fixed for qualifying after the Brit suffered a dramatic crash right at the end of the final practice hour of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend. Hamilton lost control and clipped the barrier with the rear-right of his car, snapping the bars holding the wheel in place and also causing significant damage to the corner and rear wing.
The Ferrari skipped back onto the track as Hamilton initially looked as though he would try to bring the car back to the garage. But it quickly became clear that he was not going to be able to do that and he soon had to park up at the side of the track.
He confirmed over the radio that he was unharmed, but sounded disappointed with himself as he apologised over the radio, telling his race engineer Carlo Santi: “I’ve destroyed the car, mate, I’m sorry.” The reply was: “No worries,” though the reality is that Ferrari’s mechanics how have a big job on their hands.
They had to wait to get the car back, as the wreck had to be recovered before it could be transported back to the pit lane. But the clock was already ticking with less than two-and-a-half hours to go until the start of qualifying, creating a challenging hard deadline for them to get Hamilton’s car ready for him to take part in the session.
If the car is not ready for qualifying, or even if it us but the setup is not quite right, then Hamilton’s race will be made much more difficult by a lower starting position than he might have been able to achieve if he had not smashed up his car at the end of practice.
Things went much more smoothly for championship leader Kimi Antonelli who, like in FP2 on Friday evening, ended the session at the very top of the timesheets. He will be the favourite for pole position, with Mercedes team-mate George Russell needing to find more pace if he is to have a chance of stopping the Italian teenager in qualifying.
Max Verstappen may well be a threat, though, as he was in the top three on the timesheets at the end of all three practice hours. Red Bull have taken the ‘macarena’ rear wing off his car amid safety concerns after it was deemed to be the cause of his high-speed crash at Silverstone last time out, but that does not seem to have hindered his performance much.
