The difficult weekend continues for Scuderia Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton at the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix, with yet another early exit in qualifying. Less than 24 hours after a disappointing result in the Sprint, both Lewis Hamilton and young Italian driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli were eliminated in the first qualifying session (Q1) at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
For Lewis Hamilton, who is in his debut season with Scuderia Ferrari after leaving Mercedes, the result came as a significant blow. The seven-time Formula 1 world champion had initially set a time good enough to progress into Q2. However, his fastest lap was deleted by race stewards due to a track limits violation at the Eau Rouge-Raidillon complex, one of the most challenging and legendary corners in motorsport.
Nico Rosberg, former world champion and Lewis Hamilton’s one-time teammate at Mercedes, was commenting live for Sky Italia and did not hold back in his criticism. Rosberg remarked that it was “an unnecessary mistake” and pointed out that Hamilton had “plenty of margin” in that section of the circuit.
Meanwhile, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the promising young driver also competing in this weekend’s Grand Prix, had no laps deleted for track limits but simply failed to find the performance required to advance. Driving for Mercedes, Antonelli only managed to finish ahead of the two Aston Martin drivers, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. The gap between Antonelli and his teammate George Russell was nearly half a second, highlighting the pace deficit.
Lewis Hamilton’s elimination in Q1 underlines a disappointing trajectory for Ferrari so far this weekend, especially as expectations were high for a strong performance at Spa, a circuit that demands aerodynamic efficiency, balance, and confidence from the driver. Ferrari now faces the uphill task of recovering during the Grand Prix on Sunday, with strategic decisions and weather conditions likely to play a crucial role in the final outcome.
Leave a Reply