Lewis Hamilton appeared to hold back tears and expressed fury after qualifying 16th at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, marking his third consecutive Q1 knockout in his difficult first season with Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton appeared to hold back tears and admitted he was consumed by “anger and rage” as his attempt to salvage his dismal debut Ferrari season ended in disappointment.
Hamilton’s recent qualifying performances have been particularly woeful and showed no signs of improvement at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where the seven-time Formula 1 champion managed only 16th on the grid.
Hamilton has now been eliminated in the opening stage of qualifying for each of the last three rounds of the season. He appeared more dejected than ever as he entered the media pen to address that painful result, mumbling his way through various interviews whilst offering minimal responses to a flurry of questions.
He was most candid with Sky Italy, telling them: “I don’t have the words to describe the feeling I have inside. There’s an unbearable amount of anger and rage and there’s not really much I can say about it.”
Moments before, he had given Sky’s British team merely 11 words following what had been another torturous day at the wheel of a Ferrari. “We made lots of changes and the car felt great today,” was the sole response he could manage.
Interviewer Rachel Brookes posed two additional questions to Hamilton, initially asking whether he believed his own performance had caused the disappointing qualifying outcome, before suggesting that the 40-year-old remains baffled as to why he still cannot master single-lap pace. To both enquiries, he simply nodded.
In the commentary box, David Croft commended both his colleague Brookes and Hamilton for his frank response, despite struggling to articulate his thoughts. The commentator stated: “Asked with a lot of compassion, and thank you to Lewis for the honest answers there.
“It’s hard to talk about it when you’re a seven-time World champion with 104 poles and you know that the speed wasn’t there tonight and that was coming from you, it’s a hard thing to talk about.”
Hamilton had been driving a hastily-repaired Ferrari following his crash during the final practice just hours earlier. Co-commentator Martin Brundle suggested this was likely a significant factor in Hamilton’s lack of pace throughout the session.
He elaborated: “It wouldn’t have helped that he threw it in the hedge earlier on, because cars have to get put back together slightly hurried in terms of the perfect setup and getting absolutely everything… You just don’t have the luxury of setting the car up when it’s got to be put back together again.”
Max Verstappen secured pole position, putting himself in the ideal spot to control Sunday’s title-deciding race. He will be joined on the front row by Lando Norris, and both are fully aware that a podium finish for the McLaren driver is enough for him to win the crown regardless of Verstappen’s result, or that of third-placed Oscar Piastri who is also still in contention.