Early qualifying exit incredibly 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."
What to expect in the race
Norris goes into the grand prix nine points behind Piastri in the championship, after losing one further point by finishing third, one place behind the Australian, in the sprint race earlier on Saturday.Piastri lost the lead - and eventual victory - to Verstappen on the first lap of the sprint on the long run to the Les Combes chicane because of the power of the slipstream, but wet weather should make it easier for Norris to keep the lead.However, rain would also add a lot more jeopardy for everyone - Spa is notoriously difficult in the wet.Norris said: "It's probably going to rain. I don't know much more than that, so we'll wait and see."It's also Spa, so higher chance of rain. But that can also mean that it just sometimes hits half the track and the other half stays dry."So could be in for just a chaotic race, similar to Australia or Silverstone, the ones that are just sometimes a bit in the middle. But most likely some rain and some drizzle."We're going off the front, so hopefully I can just make advantage of that and clean air and go from there.""We have the best car so that's the most important thing."Rain might give Verstappen a chance to challenge the McLarens that he might not have had starting behind in the dry.Red Bull ran a low-downforce set-up for the sprint but have added more downforce for the grand prix expecting the wet weather.But the four-time champion said winning "will be tough".Verstappen said: "First of all, if it's wet you can't really see anything so you can't really do anything in lap one."I hope we can fight back to a podium but normally in the wet the McLarens are also very fast, the have that really under control with how the inters are working. So I am not under any illusions."Leclerc said he expected to struggle if it was wet, on the evidence of the year so far, and the previous rain-affected race at Silverstone."Wet weather, I don't think it's a strength for our car at the moment," Leclerc said. "We are really struggling."But having said that, every weekend is different. We'll learn from the past and see what's possible tomorrow. I will only be able to tell after the first few laps to see where we are. But I'll try to look forward before looking in mirrors."
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