Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari mechanics are working frantically to repair his SF-26 after the seven-time world champion crashed during the closing stages of final practice at Spa-Francorchamps.
The British driver ran wide through the gravel at Turn 13 while pushing for a quick lap, with his right rear wheel striking the barrier in an incident remarkably similar to Pierre Gasly’s Alpine crash at the same corner on Friday.
Unable to return to the pits due to the damage sustained, Hamilton climbed from his cockpit and examined the stricken car himself.
“I’ve destroyed the car mate,” Hamilton told his engineer over team radio. “I’m sorry.”
Lewis Hamilton crashed during the closing stages of final practice at Spa-Francorchamps
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SKYSPORTS
Ferrari have confirmed they expect to complete repairs before qualifying begins at 3pm.
Kimi Antonelli heads into this afternoon’s qualifying session as the overwhelming favourite for pole position after topping the timesheets for a second consecutive session at the sun-drenched Belgian circuit.
The Mercedes driver demonstrated remarkable speed throughout, initially lapping seven-tenths of a second faster than his rivals during the middle portion of the hour-long session.
His advantage narrowed to just over a tenth of a second by the chequered flag, with Lando Norris and Max Verstappen finishing second and third respectively.
George Russell completed the top four, trailing his Italian teammate by approximately three-tenths of a second.
NOT how Lewis wanted to prepare for Qualifying! 💥 pic.twitter.com/stBjD5HVwk
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 18, 2026
The championship leader currently holds a 25-point advantage over Russell as the season reaches its tenth round.
Despite finishing second in the session, Norris will drop ten places on the grid due to power unit component changes, significantly hampering McLaren’s race prospects.
The burden of challenging for the Woking outfit falls to Oscar Piastri, though the Australian struggled for pace and ended the session nearly eight-tenths adrift in seventh position.
Lewis Hamilton apologised to his Ferrari team after crashing the car, leaving them in trouble ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix tomorrow
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Hamilton, who had been fifth quickest before his accident, held a comfortable advantage of almost four-tenths over Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc throughout the weekend.
Audi showed encouraging signs as Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto claimed eighth and ninth positions.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar rounded out the top ten but will start from the back following multiple power unit penalties.
