‘Just my luck’: Hamilton reflects on Abu Dhabi Q1 bollard debacle

Lewis Hamilton's hopes of finishing his final F1 weekend with Mercedes on a high were dealt with a crushing blow during Saturday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying session.

A bizarre and unfortunate incident involving a dislodged bollard left the seven-time world champion stuck in Q1, marking a bitter end to his last qualifying session with the team.

Hamilton, who had shown promise in practice and believed a podium was within reach, was on his final push lap in Q1 when disaster struck.

Kevin Magnussen, attempting to move aside in the hotel section of the Yas Marina track, struck an apex bollard, sending it flying onto the racing line.

Hamilton, arriving at the corner with no time to react, ran over the bollard, which lodged itself under his car, wreaking havoc on the Mercedes' aero balance and derailing its driver's lap.

Clearly as frustrated he ended his session a lowly P18, Hamilton's immediate reaction over the radio was succinct: “That was bad man, Jesus.”

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Speaking after the session, the seven-time world champion reflected on the turn of events with a mix of disappointment and pragmatism.

“It's just my luck, but it's okay,” he said. “You know, I tried, we tried so hard with the set-up, we got the car in a great place, and it was looking good in P3 [third practice].”

Indeed, having demonstrated encouraging pace earlier in the weekend, Hamilton had dared to dream of a podium finish in his farewell race with Mercedes.

“I was really thinking maybe a podium is possible this weekend and yeah, then timing was not optimized for the session. “I was the last one on the track and obviously I ended up behind one of the Alpines right in the end so I just ran out of time,” he explained.

Despite the misfortune, the future Ferrari driver maintained a composed demeanor.

“I don't have any emotions. I'm pretty chill,” he admitted. “We had this unfortunate session and got the bollard under the car.

“I think for me, I've just been very present. I've been enjoying every moment. I've got the car in a really good place.

“The set-up changes we've made, the car has been completely different to the last five races. This weekend it has been feeling really great, and so it is unfortunate.”

Meanwhile, Magnussen shed light on his inadvertent role in the incident, explaining that he had no intention of impeding Hamilton.

“Lewis was coming very close behind Bottas, I think,” the Dane explained. “There was someone coming and I let him past, and I wasn't aware that Lewis was right on his tail. They were both pushing so I went onto the inside of Turn 14 to get out of the way.”

Looking ahead to race day, Hamilton will move up a couple of positions on the starting grid thanks to penalties for Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon. Although a podium now seems out of reach, Hamilton is still optimistic about salvaging a strong result.

“The pace was decent. It's not going to be easy to overtake tomorrow. I've got to work on strategy now and instead of fighting for a podium let's see how far I can get. If I can get into the top 10, that would be amazing,” he said.

“I mean, I will try…as I said, the car's been feeling decent and to go from the P1, P2 where I was always relatively in the top five to being 18th definitely changes the look into the weekend, but I'm still trying to be really present. I'm still really grateful.”

For Hamilton, Sunday's season finale now represents an uphill battle, but with a car that he described as “so much nicer to drive,” the Mercedes star remains hopeful of delivering one last memorable performance for his team.

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