Lewis Hamilton 18th in disastrous final F1 qualifying for Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton suffers shocking final F1 qualifying for Mercedes, reports Lewis Larkam in Abu Dhabi.
Lewis Hamilton suffered a Q1 elimination in his final qualifying appearance for Mercedes at the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion could only qualify 18th at the Yas Marina circuit as he dropped out in the first session in a miserable last qualifying outing for the Silver Arrows.
Hamilton claimed over team radio that he “messed that lap up big time guys!”.
Hamilton was unfortunate to have a bollard get stuck under his car after it was dislodged by Kevin Magnussen’s towards the end of the lap.
That undoubtedly would have cost Hamilton time through the final two corners, and he missed the cut to advance into Q2 by just 0.093 seconds.
Hamilton will line up 16th for Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with grid penalties for Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon set to promote him up two places on the grid.
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