Lewis Hamilton FP3 shunt compromises his Spa Qualifying as mechanics rush to repair the #44 Ferrari

At that point Hamilton was P5, 0.4s down on Kimi Antonelli's top time in his Mercedes. The seven-time F1 World Champion was faster than Charles Leclerc in the other Ferrari on the timing sheets.

Ferrari mechanics will be busy in the garage before qualifying later in the day, as it was a big hit that dislodged the right rear wheel.

After clipping the wall, Hamilton's engineer said over the radio:

Engineer: "Ok, Lewis?"Hamilton: "Yeah, I've destroyed the car, mate. I'm sorry."Engineer: "No problem."

Ferrari confirmed the car would be ready before 4pm (CET) local time for qualifying after assessing the damage on the #44 SF26.

The shunt was almost a replay of Pierre Gasly having a similar shunt in his Alpine on Friday. Exiting the turn, the Ferrari got wide on the slippery section. Lewis floored it and almost scraped past, but lack of grip put paid to any salvation for the car.

Hamilton has enjoyed a resurgence this season, ending a win drought with victory at the Spanish Grand Prix. While teammate Leclerc emerged from a wayward spell to win at Silverstone. Much of the same was expected at Spa-Francorchamps. However, the momentum appears to be halted on the evidence of the practice sessions.

The setback means Ferrari mechanics will now race against time to get Hamilton out for the start of qualifying later in the day. It will be his 390th Formula 1 qualifying session, and he will be hunting his 105th pole position. The seven-time Formula 1 World Champion has not started a GP from P1 since Hungary 2023.