Lewis Hamilton crashed his Ferrari in final practice for the Belgian Grand Prix, raising concerns about his ability to compete in qualifying later on Saturday. The incident occurred in the closing moments of the session at Spa-Francorchamps when Hamilton ran wide at the Fagnes bend.
While the seven-time world champion emerged from the crash unharmed, his car sustained heavy damage, with the rear right wheel appearing to be hanging by its tether after impact with a barrier. "I destroyed the car," Hamilton was heard saying to his race engineer, Carlos Santi, after stopping on track to inspect the damage.
Mechanics now face a race against time, with just over two hours to repair the stricken vehicle before qualifying begins at 4 p.m. local time. Despite the late crash, Hamilton had set the fifth fastest time of the practice session before the incident. He is currently third in the world championship standings, 32 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes.
Antonelli set the fastest time in the session, followed by Lando Norris of McLaren in second and Max Verstappen of Red Bull in third. George Russell, Hamilton's teammate, was fourth fastest, 0.367 seconds behind Antonelli. This weekend is considered significant for Russell, who is 25 points off the championship lead after nine of the season's 22 races.