Hamilton immediately sought to apologise to his Ferrari team in an interview with Sky Sports F1, while the session was still going on, and said: “But from my side, another mistake so I’ve really got to look internally and apologise to the team, because it’s unacceptable to be out in both Q1s. It’s a very, very poor performance for myself.
“Anything can happen here. I mean, I don’t know. I have no clue about tomorrow. It’s going to be hard from where I am. Definitely a weekend to forget.
“It’s incredibly painful [to be eliminated in Q1]. It’s turning out to be a pretty bad weekend so far.
“I was the same as I was for the rest of the weekend. We made some changes, the car didn’t feel terrible but it was tough for us because we had to put a second set of tyres on just to get through Q1, so not great.
For the latest breaking stories and headlines, sign up to our Daily Express F1 newsletter, or join our WhatsApp community here.
“That’s my mistake, so I’m just really sorry to the team for all the hard work. All the testing, you know, the filming day that we did, and all the preparation, and then you come here and you don’t even make it through Q1, which is unacceptable. I’m really sorry.”
He also lamented the inability to make meaningful changes to his car due to F1’s parc ferme rules, adding: “There’s not much we can do, so I’ll start from where I am and see where I go from there.
“We have had upgrades, but I think this is probably it for the rest of the year. This season has been a tricky one.”
Commentator Martin Brundle explained the error that had major consequences for Hamilton’s race: “That was a critical lap and he’s got a bit greedy over the top of the hill with the kerb.
“All four wheels just over the white line and they treat that as very much track limits. That’s really sad that he’s back there. That has cost him dearly and he knows what it’s like starting down there.”
Sky expert Anthony Davidson further added: “What a miserable existence for Lewis’ qualifying here at Spa – yesterday and today.
“But he has the pace, clearly, just behind Charles Leclerc on paper, he had the lap time. We all know as drivers that this doesn’t gain you a lot of time, it’s just that you’ve got to be within the regulations.”