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Lewis Hamilton admits his car in qualifying was “not identical” to the one he crashed during FP3 at the 2026 F1 Belgian Grand Prix once Ferrari finished all of their repairs.
The 41-year-old qualified sixth at Spa-Francorchamps this Saturday, but feels he could have been able to fight for even a top-three finish during Q3 without the carryover from his crash in FP3. Lando Norris of McLaren ended Q3 in P3 with a margin of only 0.094s over Hamilton.
Ferrari’s Hamilton posted a personal-best lap time of 1:44.895 during Q3 as he slotted in just behind teammate Charles Leclerc, who finished P5 with a 1:44.893. The two Ferrari aces will both gain one position to start from P4 and P5 as Norris has to serve a 10-place grid penalty.
Which driver will make up the most places during the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix?
Lewis Hamilton admits his FP3 crash hindered his qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix
Hamilton believes he might not have needed to capitalise on Norris’ hefty grid penalty for a new battery had he had the car he drove during FP3 for qualifying at the Belgian GP. But the Briton felt the repairs that Ferrari had to make after his FP3 crash actually made him slower.
READ MORE: How to watch the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix, plus the weather forecast for Spa
The Scuderia had a curtailed lunch break at Spa on Saturday after Hamilton finished the final practice session by hitting the barrier at Turn 13. Hamilton crashed on the exit of the Fagnes chicane during FP3 at Spa, which snapped his right-rear suspension and forced him to stop.
“The car felt different after the repair,” Hamilton detailed, via quotes by the Italian edition of Motorsport.com. “The guys on the team did a great job fixing the damage after FP3.
“The car felt fantastic in that session, and I had a lot of confidence. It wouldn’t have allowed us to fight for pole, because that would have meant going faster, but I think that with the car we had in Free Practice 3, I might have been able to take third place or somewhere close.
“So, I was a couple of tenths short in qualifying. The car was not identical to the one I had prepared for qualifying, but I did my best with what I had.”
Who was your star of qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix? 🤩
Hamilton ran marginally off the racing line through the middle of the Fagnes chicane during the final seconds of FP3, which forced him onto the dirty part of the circuit. The seven-time F1 champion could not then regain control before he ran into the gravel and hit the barrier.
Hamilton had a similar moment at Turn 13 to Alpine racer Pierre Gasly’s crash during FP2 at the Belgian GP on Friday. Gasly also ran wide exiting the Fagnes chicane, but he ran deeper into the gravel trap than Hamilton did in FP3 and had a much bigger crash than the Briton.
Ferrari had a lot of work on their hands to get Hamilton’s car ready in time for qualifying for the Belgian GP, which included replacing his gearbox as a precaution alongside their repairs to his suspension, floor and rear wing. But the Scuderia completed all of the repairs in time.
Hamilton, though, clearly felt that his car was different in qualifying compared to the set-up that he had refined throughout the three practice sessions at Spa. The 41-year-old’s claims even suggest he lost confidence with his car during qualifying, which he will hope does not cause him greater issues in the Belgian GP in pursuit of his 12th podium at Spa this Sunday.
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