Bollard wrecks Hamilton’s final qualifying for Mercedes

ABU DHABI: Lewis Hamilton qualified only 18th for his final Formula One race with Mercedes after a broken plastic bollard wedged under his car and ruined his lap at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday.

The seven times world champion, who is joining Ferrari next season, is the most successful driver at the Yas Marina circuit with five wins between 2011 and 2019, and 18th is his lowest starting position there.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has won the last four in Abu Dhabi.

“I messed that lap up big time, guys,” said Hamilton over the team radio after the chequered flag ended the first phase of the floodlit session and he missed out on going through by 0.093 of a second.

“That was bad, man,” he added.

“Yeah, that was bad,” agreed team boss Toto Wolff.

Television replays showed the bollard was hit by Haas’s Kevin Magnussen and flicked into Hamilton’s path, becoming wedged under Hamilton’s car where it stayed for his final flying lap.

on the other hand, McLaren are back on the brink, but this time Formula One’s second most successful team are one step away from returning to the top rather than being at risk of financial failure.

Four years ago, in a 2020 season hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the once-dominant former champions were in desperate need of a cash injection.

Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix could seal a remarkable comeback for the British-based team who have won more races (188) than anyone other than Ferrari (248) – their current rivals for the crown.

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McLaren, who entered in 1966 and are the second longest continuous participants in Formula One after Ferrari, lead by 21 points with 44 still available.

They have been top since Baku in September and their status as favourites was only improved by a 10-place grid penalty collected by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Apart from Williams, whose last championship was in 1997 and who have not won a race for 12 years, McLaren have the longest gap between crowns and – despite claims of feeling calm and relaxed – the stress is rising.

“We’re trying to do what got us here this weekend and not kind of race differently, not think about the championship,” McLaren’s American chief executive Zak Brown, who joined in 2016, told reporters at Yas Marina on Saturday.

Brown admitted, however, that he would be lying if he pretended his mind was not running away with all the calculations.