Hamilton disaster as loose bollard helps put him out of Q1 in final Mercedes outing

Lewis Hamilton’s final qualifying for Mercedes in Formula 1 ended in a disappointing Q1 exit on Saturday after a flying bollard got trapped under his car.

The seven-time world champion was on his final effort to put in a lap that would get him through to Q2 when he came upon a slow Kevin Magnussen in the Haas.

The Dane, aware Hamilton was coming up behind him in the hotel section, moved off the track and behind the kerbs to try not to block the Mercedes.

However, in doing so, Magnussen struck the bollard that is on the inside apex, flinging it across the track just as Hamilton arrived.

With no time to react, Hamilton ran over the bollard and it got trapped underneath his car as he attempted to finish the lap.

The aerodynamics would have been badly affected and a lacklustre final sector meant the Briton missed out on getting into the top 15 times by less than one tenth of a second, ending up 18th out of 20 drivers.

Clearly angry about the situation and the lack of pace, Hamilton came on the team radio straight afterwards and said: “That was bad man, Jesus”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who lowered his head in frustration at Hamilton’s Q1 exit in his final Mercedes event, concurred: “Yes Lewis. That was bad.”

More to follow