Mercedes
Hamilton had nothing but bad luck in qualifying. He was up on the time he needed on his last run in Q1, only to run over a bollard that rolled onto the racing line as Magnussen ahead tried to get out of his way. That got lodged under his car, costing him time and meant in his last qualifying with Mercedes, he exited in Q1. Russell had complained about his car in FP3, but somehow dragged it into Q3. Once there he couldn’t find the pace to challenge for the front row, winding up seventh.
Lewis Hamilton, 18th, 1:23.887
“Today was really unfortunate. We’ve worked so hard to get the car into a good place and it has been feeling strong all weekend. Sadly, our timing at the end of Q1 wasn’t the best. We weren’t able to optimise the out lap, having to push through traffic. That compromised my last effort in that session; a bollard then got stuck under the car at turn 14 and affected the final few corners of the lap. To that point, I was level on pace with George and looking good to make it through to Q2. It is obviously really frustrating.
“It is difficult to say what would have been possible if we had made it through to the final part of Qualifying. We have been looking good across the practice sessions so I think we could have challenged for the first couple of rows. It is what it is though, and I will be giving it my all to end as strongly as we can tomorrow. It will be difficult from P17, but I will be trying to enjoy it as much as possible and make up as many positions as we can.”
George Russell, 7th, 1:23.132
“It has been a strange weekend for us as a team. It’s been very up and down. There’s been moments where we’ve looked quick and then other times when we’re not sure where the pace has gone. We are a little confused by that but, on my side of the garage, we didn’t have the speed to fight for the first couple of rows today. That is frustrating but P7 is likely the best we could have hoped for today. It was a real shame for Lewis too. He’s been really quick this weekend, ahead of me comfortably, and I think he would have been right up there at the end of Q3.
“Looking ahead to tomorrow, it will be tough to move forward. It is perhaps surprising to see the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg up there, but I think firstly they did an amazing job and secondly, I think that their pace this weekend is genuine. We will have a fight on our hands but we will take that on and look to end the season as strongly as we can.”
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“We need to apologise to Lewis and everyone in the team who has worked so hard to deliver a great final weekend for him here in Abu Dhabi. He has been quick across all three practice sessions and was looking good for a strong result tomorrow. Sadly, we totally let him down at the end of Q1. We made the mistake of not sending the drivers out early enough. That compromised both their out laps and then their final push laps as they wrestled through traffic. Lewis was then additionally compromised by a bollard becoming stuck under his car. Without that, he would likely have got through, but we shouldn’t have been risking so much in Q1.
“It will be very difficult for Lewis to get back to where he should have been racing tomorrow. Nevertheless, I know he will be giving it absolutely everything to do so. That is his character and always has been. With George starting P7, we will also be looking forward, but we must be realistic. The cars ahead of him have looked quick and it will be challenging to make progress. Hopefully we can enjoy a better day than today though and end the season on a high.”
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director
“That was a tough evening and one that didn’t go the way we had hoped. Firstly, we can only apologise to Lewis for his Q1 exit. Traffic is always a challenge here in Qualifying and something that you account for. Unfortunately, we didn’t get it quite right. Both cars left the pit lane at the back of the queue; with overtaking in the tunnel not allowed, many cars ahead took the opportunity to form larger gaps to the car in front than usual. That left Lewis and George on the back foot and having to cut their way through traffic on the out lap to make the flag. They were then further compromised by having less than ideal gaps to the car ahead of them. All that said, both were on pace to make it through to Q2 before a loose bollard became stuck under Lewis’s car at turn 14. That impacted him in the final few corners and, in an already tight session, cost him a couple of vital few tenths.
“It is not the way we wanted to head into our final race day together. We will be doing everything we can tomorrow to enable Lewis to work his way back through the field. Fighting drives are an absolute speciality of his and we know he will be giving it his all to end our time together on a high.
“On George’s side, he has struggled pace wise a little more this weekend. We will need to evaluate why that is but, in the meantime, our focus is on trying to make gains tomorrow. Starting from P7 that will be tough. The field is close, and we know overtaking is a challenge here. Nevertheless, we will see what we can do and hope that we can finish the year more strongly than we did today.”
