Damon Hill tells Lewis Hamilton the ‘elephant in the room’ at Ferrari after his Abu Dhabi GP Q1 exit

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Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton could only qualify P16 for the 2025 season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as he endured a third Q1 exit in a row for the first time since 2009.

The 40-year-old had not bowed out of qualifying for a Grand Prix during the first segment at three successive races for 16 years. He last failed to progress to Q2 at three straight rounds while still at McLaren at the 2009 Monaco (P16), Turkish (P16) and British (P19) Grands Prix.

Hamilton has also now failed to reach the second segment of a qualifying session four times in a row for the first time in his 19-year F1 career when including Sprint sessions. The record 104-time Grand Prix polesitter could only achieve a 1:23.394 during Q1 at the Abu Dhabi GP.

Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda, who will not be on the grid in 2026, denied Hamilton a place in Q2 at Yas Marina by just 0.008 seconds. Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc also ended Q1 in P5 with a lap time of 1:23.163, and he also went on to qualify P5 for Sunday’s Abu Dhabi GP.

Charles Leclerc’s qualifying dominance makes it hard for Lewis Hamilton to convince Ferrari about their problems

Hamilton had appeared set to secure a Q2 spot through the first two sectors on his final Q1 run at the Abu Dhabi GP. The seven-time F1 champion was one of the final drivers on track, and he was also just 0.152s off Oscar Piastri’s benchmark 1:22.605 time through sector two.

READ MORE: 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying report, as Max Verstappen scores pole

But Hamilton’s lap went away in the final sector, for his fourth Q1 exit as a Ferrari driver and his ninth failure to reach Q3 in the 2025 F1 season. Leclerc has also now beaten Hamilton in their Grand Prix qualifying head-to-head battle 19-5, as well as 4-2 during Sprint Qualifying.

And Leclerc is the “elephant in the room” for Hamilton at Ferrari, as Damon Hill believes the Briton cannot convince Ferrari that they have struggled this season due to their car when his teammate has taken a pole position (in Hungary) and made Q3 at 23 of the 24 Grands Prix.

Hill said on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra (6/12, 14:48): “There’s a little bit of an elephant in the room, which is the fact that if you’re going to go and talk to Ferrari and say, ‘You know, the reason you’re not doing well is because of this, this and this’, you have to be the quickest guy to be able to have them be convinced that you’re telling them the right thing.

“That is one of the problems with not being the quickest guy on the team. It becomes political, doesn’t it?”

Damon Hill feels Charles Leclerc was ‘brave’ pushing his Ferrari in Abu Dhabi GP qualifying

Leclerc only failed to reach Q3 during the 2025 F1 season when he qualified P11 at Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Ferrari’s backyard back in round seven this May. Hamilton even qualified only P12 at Imola, where he also sealed his joint-best finish with Ferrari of P4.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

After qualifying, have you changed your mind about who will be champion on Sunday? 🤔

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Qualifying has only brought Hamilton further misery recently, with Q1 exits at the Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix. Hamilton qualified last in Las Vegas, for the first time ever on pure speed. Ferrari even saw Hamilton finish SQ1 in Qatar in P18 and Q1 in Lusail in P18.

The Ferrari SF-25 has proven to be a problematic car throughout the 2025 F1 season, and it was for Leclerc again during qualifying for the Abu Dhabi GP. Hill felt Leclerc was “brave” to wrestle his Ferrari like the Monegasque was during Q2 after a wild ride around Yas Marina.

Hill said: “We’re watching the onboard, he was absolutely manhandling that car around the circuit in a way that was, well, it was very brave. I mean, he was totally committed, everywhere, and he deserved to get that thing through. I say thing because it’s not been the best car that Ferrari have produced.”