Hamilton: That was bad, man [after bollard misbehaves in Qualy]

The seven-time Formula 1 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 Hamilton's lowest starting position there.

"I messed that lap up big time, guys," lamented Hamilton over the team radio after the chequered flag ended the first phase of the floodlit Qualifying session on Saturday and missed out on going through to Q2 by 0.093 of a second.

"That was bad, man," a disconsolate Hamilton reported.
"Yeah, that was bad," agreed Mercedes 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.

Later, talking to TV reporters, Hamilton added "Just my luck, but it's ok. We tried so hard with the set-up, we got the car in a great place, and it was looking good in P3 so I was really thinking 'maybe a podium is possible this weekend'.

"Then the timing was not optimised with the session because I was the last one on the track and obviously I ended up behind one of the Alpines right at the end, so I just ran out of time."

As for his final F1 race in Mercedes colours on Sunday, Hamilton said: "I'll try to. As I said, the car has been feeling decent. To go from P1, P2 I was always relatively in the top five to then be in 18th definitely changes the look into the weekend but I'm still trying to be really present. I'm still really grateful.

"The car has been completely different this weekend, it's been so much nicer to drive, so my hopes were high but it is what it is. I'll try to come back from that," ventured Hamilton, who is likely to finish P7 in the 2024 F1 World Championship. His worst in the top flight since his remarkable debut season back in 2007. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin)