Damon Hill baffled by Lewis Hamilton’s unnecessary decision that ‘embarrassed’ Ferrari at the Belgian Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton is having a weekend to forget at the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix, as the Ferrari star goes from woe to further woe across the F1 Sprint and qualifying at Spa.

The historic circuit in the Ardennes forest has traditionally been a happy hunting ground for Hamilton during the 40-year-old’s Formula 1 career. Only Michael Schumacher with six wins boasts more Belgian GP wins than the five that Ayrton Senna and Hamilton have registered.

Hamilton has also taken six pole positions at Spa after topping the qualifying sessions at the Belgian GP in 2008, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2020. George Russell’s disqualification gave Hamilton’s final win for Mercedes at the 2024 Belgian GP, too, but 2025 has brought misery.

Damon Hill claims Ferrari looked ‘embarrassed’ by Lewis Hamilton’s Q1 exit at the Belgian GP

Hamilton spun in SQ1 to qualify P18 for the Sprint at the 2025 Belgian GP on Friday after the Briton lost the rear-end of his SF-25 under braking at the Bus Stop Chicane. He had also had a moment at Stavelot earlier in SQ1, and would only improve to take P15 in Saturday’s Sprint.

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Qualifying for the actual Belgian GP would not prove to be a happy affair for the seven-time champion on Saturday, either. Hamilton set a 1:41.664, which was fast enough for P7 in the Q1 timesheet, yet the Ferrari driver lost the lap time after exceeding track limits at Raidillon.

Hamilton turned in slightly too early on his rise through Eau Rouge, so he put all four wheels of his car over the inside of the white line at Raidillon and was eliminated in P16. Damon Hill does not get why Hamilton ‘felt the need’ to take the risk, which even ‘embarrassed’ Ferrari.

Hill said on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 (26/07, 15:20): “He’s no longer able to take part in qualifying. [Hamilton is] back where he was after yesterday’s Sprint Qualifying and there’s a lot of very embarrassed-looking people at Ferrari in the garage…

“He just went too far across the top of the hill. His car is actually all off the track, and that means his time is deleted. He didn’t have to do that. I don’t know why he felt the need to use that much track. You don’t actually lose to gain that much.”

Lewis Hamilton sets his worst Grand Prix qualifying result as a Ferrari driver at Spa

Qualifying for the Belgian GP now marks Hamilton’s worst qualifying result as a Ferrari driver since the Briton joined the Scuderia before the 2025 F1 season. The 40-year-old’s previous worst Grand Prix qualifying performances with Ferrari came in Miami and at Imola with P12.

Hamilton managed to improve his result in Miami to finish the Grand Prix in P8, before then taking P4 in the Emilia Romagna GP in Ferrari’s backyard. His fourth-place remains the joint-best finish that the seven-time champion has scored for the Scuderia across 12 Grands Prix.

But Hamilton would have expected far, far more in qualifying at Spa after Ferrari debuted an upgraded rear suspension at the Belgian GP. His teammate Charles Leclerc proved the SF-25 had more pace to offer in the Ardennes after he made it to Q3 for the 13th time this term.