The cup of sorrow is far from empty for Lewis Hamilton. During the qualification for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Ferrari driver failed to place among the top fifteen. This marked the third consecutive Q1 exit for the seven-time world champion. Earlier in the day, he had already crashed in turn nine during the final free practice, starting the qualification at a disadvantage. Eventually, he ended up in P16. Afterwards, he declared himself ‘furious’ about the result.
This is the latest chapter in what Hamilton himself calls an outright nightmare: in Abu Dhabi too, he had to leave the battlefield in Q1. This led to visible frustration for the 40-year-old Brit, who is threatening to close his first season with Ferrari in a painful way. “I have no words to express how I feel,” Hamilton sighed to Sky Sports. “I just feel a lot of anger and rage.” About his crash in FP3, he was clear: “That certainly doesn’t help. The car felt great, but the bottom hit the asphalt causing me to lose the rear.” Despite this setback, he didn’t want to make any excuses.
‘It’s always the same story’
His answers remained short and gloomy, as we have often seen this season. He admitted to not having an action plan and didn’t know if the winter break would be enough to mentally reset. “We’ll see, it’s a very short break,” Hamilton grumbled. He has no plans to leave this year’s disappointments behind either. The prospect for the race did not make him positive either. “You can’t do much with P16,” he concluded irritably. “It’s the same story every weekend.”
With a start from P16, an impressive record of Hamilton – a podium in every season of his Formula 1 career – seems to be on shaky ground. The Ferrari driver did not get further than fourth place this year. Three consecutive Q1 exits is also a painful statistic for the former champion; this has not happened to him since 2009.
