Ted Kravitz says Lewis Hamilton may miss Peter Bonnington after ‘terse’ Ferrari radio at Belgian Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton could only apologise to his Ferrari team after back-to-back Q1 eliminations at the Belgian Grand Prix. 18th on the Sprint grid, Hamilton lines up 16th for Sunday’s race.

Where a spin took him out of contention on Friday, a track limits breach was costly here. Hamilton appeared to be through after climbing to seventh with his last lap, but he lost the time for cutting turn four.

While initial television replays appeared inconclusive, the stewards have access to more angles. Their imagery clearly showed that Hamilton had all four wheels on the wrong side of the white line at the top of the Eau Rouge ascent.

Hamilton, who could only progress to 15th in the Sprint, is the first Ferrari driver dumped out in Q1 since Carlos Sainz at the 2023 Abu Dhabi GP. He’s scored points at every race weekend so far, but that streak is very much at risk.

Ted Kravitz questions Riccardo Adami’s ’empathy’ amid Lewis Hamilton woe

Speaking after he crossed the line, Hamilton said on the radio: “Is everything okay?”

Race engineer Riccardo Adami replied: “Track limits turn four.”

That prompted Hamilton to ask, ‘Am I out?’, and Adami answered, ‘Yeah lap time is deleted, P16’.

During his Belgian Grand Prix qualifying notebook, Sky Sports analyst Ted Kravitz questioned the Italian’s tone. He expected more ’empathy’ from the engineer, who’s also worked with Sainz and Sebastian Vettel.

He suspects that Peter Bonnington, Hamilton’s engineer throughout his storied years at Mercedes, would have offered more comfort. But the new duo are still forming their own bond.

Kravitz said: “Did you think it was a bit terse on the radio between him and Riccardo Adami, saying, ‘Is there something wrong?’, and Riccardo Adami rather said flatly, ‘Yes, track limits, we’re out’.

“I don’t know whether I expected a bit more empathy. Just listen to it yourself. It didn’t sound like a Lewis and Bono situation. I expected the engineer to say, ‘Oh, I’m sorry Lewis, bad luck mate, you’re out, it was track limits, hard done by pal’ – the kind of thing that Bono would have said to him.

“Riccardo Adami isn’t Bono, and it’s a different relationship there.”

This is Lewis Hamilton’s biggest problem at Ferrari, even with Belgian Grand Prix upgrade

Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc qualified a commendable P3, having been fourth in both Sprint sessions. That’s where the car should realistically be.

There was optimism heading into the weekend as Ferrari introduced a new rear suspension. The early results appear disappointing, but a definitive verdict can’t be cast yet.

• READ MORE: Kimi Antonelli onboard camera shows Martin Brundle that Lewis Hamilton has an ‘awful’ issue at the Belgian Grand Prix

Hamilton’s biggest problem is rear instability, as team insider Marc Gene noted. It’s the main complaint he makes in team briefings.

While there was some confusion over Friday’s spin, he immediately took responsibility after GP qualifying. Damon Hill questioned why Hamilton was so aggressive on the kerbs when he was comfortably quick enough to go through.