International
You couldn’t make it up’ – Hamilton on qualifying exit
Lewis Hamilton said “you couldn’t make it up” after he was eliminated from the first part of qualifying in his final race for Mercedes at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The seven-time champion, who is moving to Ferrari next season after 12 years of unprecedented success at Mercedes, qualified 18th for the race. He will start 16th after penalties for other drivers.
Hamilton was in disbelief at the way his qualifying fell apart, as he collected a bollard dislodged by Kevin Magnussen’s Haas after the Dane tried to get out of the Briton’s way at the end of the first qualifying session.
He told BBC Sport that qualifying “couldn’t have gone worse really”.
Norris on Abu Dhabi pole with Hamilton 18th