Mercedes

Hamilton was just unlucky in qualifying. On his final run in Q1 he had the time he needed, only to drive over a bollard that rolled onto the racing line as Magnussen in front of him tried to get out of the way. This got stuck under his car, costing him time and meaning he was eliminated in the first qualifying of his final qualifying session with Mercedes. Russell had complained about his car in FP3, but somehow dragged it into Q3. Once he got there, he couldn’t find the speed needed to fight for the front row and ended up in seventh place.

READ MORE: Hamilton disheartened after Q1 exit in Abu Dhabi as Wolff apologizes for ‘inexcusable’ and ‘idiotic’ mistake

Lewis Hamilton, 18th, 1:23.887

“Today was really unfortunate. We worked so hard to get the car in a good position and it felt strong all weekend. Unfortunately, our timing at the end of the first quarter wasn’t the best. We didn’t manage that.” I had to optimize the last lap because I had to push through traffic and then got stuck under the car in turn 14 with Georg. And it’s looking good to get into the second quarter. This is of course really frustrating.

“It’s hard to say what would have been possible if we had made it to the last part of qualifying. We looked good in training sessions so I think we could have kept up in the first few rows. That’s it.” But that’s it, and I’ll do everything I can to finish as strong as possible tomorrow. It will be difficult from 17th place, but I will try to enjoy it as much as possible and make up as many positions as possible. “

George Russell, 7th, 1:23.132

“It was a strange weekend for us as a team. There were many ups and downs. There were moments where we looked fast and other times where we weren’t sure what the pace was going. We’re a little confused.” But on my side of the pits today we didn’t have the speed to fight for the first few rows, but P7 is probably the best we could have hoped for today. Lewis was really quick too this weekend , was well ahead of me and I think he would have been on top at the end of the third quarter.

“Looking ahead to tomorrow, it will be difficult to move forward. It’s perhaps surprising to see Pierre Gasly’s Alpine and Nico Hülkenberg’s Haas up there, but I think firstly they did a great job and secondly I think they are. The pace this weekend is real . We will fight hard, but we will embrace it and try to finish the season as strong as we can.”

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“We must apologize to Lewis and everyone in the team who worked so hard to deliver him a great final weekend here in Abu Dhabi. He was fast in all three training sessions and had a good chance of a strong result tomorrow. Unfortunately.” We completely let him down at the end of the first quarter by not sending the drivers out early enough. This further impaired Lewis in his final laps. Without that he probably would have got through, but we shouldn’t have risked so much in the first quarter.

“It will be very difficult for Lewis to get back to where he should have been racing tomorrow. However, I know he will give absolutely everything to make this happen. That’s his character and it’s always been that way. With George starting from P7, we are going to look forward too, but we have to be realistic. The cars in front of him looked fast and it will be a challenge to achieve a better day than today and end the season on a successful note.

Andrew Shovlin, Track Technical Director

“It was a tough evening and one that didn’t go as we had hoped. Firstly, we can only apologize to Lewis for his exit in Q1. Traffic is always a challenge here in qualifying and something you are responsible for. Unfortunately we have.” Both cars left the pit lane at the end of the queue. Since overtaking was not allowed in the tunnel, many cars in front of them took the opportunity to close larger gaps to the car in front, with George on the back foot and with them having to fight through traffic on the final lap to reach the checkered flag. They were then further hindered by the fact that they did not have the ideal distance from the car in front of them. Despite this, both were on track to get into the second quarter before a defeat occurred when the bollard got stuck under Lewis’ car in turn 14. This affected him in the final corners and cost him a few important tenths in an already tight session.

“This is not the way we wanted to start our last day of racing together. We’ll do everything we can tomorrow to put Lewis in a position to work his way back through the field. Fighting rides are an absolute specialty of his and we know he will do that.” I will give everything to end our time together on a high.

“On George’s side, he had a little more trouble with speed this weekend. We need to figure out why that is, but in the meantime let’s focus on trying to make progress tomorrow. This will be difficult from P7. The field is tight and we know that overtaking is a challenge here. However, we will see what we can do and hope that we can finish the year stronger than today.”