Abu Dhabi – Lewis Hamilton‘s challenging first season with Ferrari continued Saturday with a disappointing qualifying performance at the Yas Marina Circuit, were he failed to advance beyond the first qualifying session for the third consecutive race.The seven-time World Champion will start Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from 16th position, marking a low point in a year where a podium finish has eluded him despite 23 race starts [[1]]. The qualifying results underscore the team’s ongoing struggles to find consistent performance as the 2023 Formula 1 season concludes.
Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from 16th on the grid, failing to advance from the first qualifying session for the third consecutive race.
The seven-time World Champion is enduring a challenging season with Ferrari, his first since joining the team, and has yet to reach a podium finish in 23 races. He currently sits sixth in the driver standings as the Formula 1 season draws to a close.
This qualifying setback marks the third straight event where Hamilton hasn’t made it out of Q1.
“We made a lot of changes to the car, and it was good today,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 after qualifying.
“I don’t even have the words to describe the feeling I have right now. An unbearable amount of anger and frustration. I have nothing more to say,” he added to Sky Italy.
Leclerc to start from the third row
Charles Leclerc outperformed teammate Hamilton for the 19th time this season in qualifying, reaching Q3 and securing the fifth-fastest time.
“I’m happy with my lap in Q3; I don’t think there was much more to extract,” Leclerc said on the Ferrari website. “The team did a really good job turning things around this weekend. We made some changes to the setup between FP2 and FP3, and it paid off.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing tomorrow in the race if these changes will help us move forward. We can’t be overly optimistic, as the cars ahead are very fast. It’s up to us to maximize our result tomorrow and I’ll do my best to attack at the start and try to get the final podium of the year for the team.”
