Lewis Hamilton’s radio messages after his crash in Belgian GP practice reveal a tough moment unfolding
Lewis Hamilton had a tough time during the final practice session before qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Right now, Hamilton is chasing Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell in the battle for the Drivers’ Championship. After a rough 2025, the 41-year-old has bounced back this year and has been outscoring everyone since he stopped using the Ferrari F1 simulator in May.
Just as he was gaining momentum for the Spa race, Hamilton crashed near the end of the last practice session, in a way very similar to Pierre Gasly’s crash on Friday. Hamilton, who was fifth fastest on Saturday, was on a fast lap when he went wide off the track at Turn 13. His car’s right rear wheel hit the barrier lightly.
“Sorry, I’ve destroyed the car,” Hamilton said over the radio. His race engineer, Carlos Santi, replied, “It’s okay. Stop the car, it’s better to preserve it.” But Hamilton answered sadly, “There’s nothing left to preserve.”
The damage was bad enough that Hamilton couldn’t drive the car back to the pits. Now, Ferrari’s team will be in a race against the clock to fix his car before qualifying starts at 3pm BST. They are hopeful they can get it ready in time.
While it was a tough break for the seven-time world champion, Antonelli kept up his strong performance and will be the clear favorite to get pole position, having topped the times for the second time in a row at Spa.
This crash is not the best way for Hamilton to prepare for Sunday’s race, and the rush to repair the car will definitely cause some stress. But if Ferrari pulls through, Hamilton still has a good chance to win his seventh race at Spa. He already shares the record for most Belgian GP wins with F1 legend Michael Schumacher, and this weekend gives him a chance to make history.
In fact, Hamilton might have had the outright record for wins at Spa if not for some bad luck in the past. In 2008, he actually finished first in heavy rain but lost the victory due to a controversial 25-second penalty after the race.
Before the weekend started, Hamilton talked about how tricky Spa is with its five straight-line speed zones. “It’s a really tough track,” he said. “It has so many straights. When we went to Silverstone, we thought the power difference would be more, but the corners were actually quicker than expected. Here, with even more straights, the gap might be bigger. But we’re doing everything we can.”