Lewis Hamilton branded himself an “idiot” after failing to make it through the final qualifying shoot-out, bringing an end to his string of pole positions this season.
The Mercedes driver will start 12th, behind Kimi Raikkonen, marking the first time he’s failed to make Q3 in 67 races.
He blamed himself for the error, rather than Adrian Sutil who visibly blocked the Briton on his final flying lap.
“It was generally a really poor qualifying session,” Hamilton conceeded. “I didn’t put one single lap together in Q2.
![Isack Hadjar [pictured] has deferred to Max Verstappen for Day 2 of the F1 pre-season test. Image: Red Bull Content Pool](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Isack-Hadjar-Red-Bull-test-2026-120x86.webp)
“I just drove like an idiot. That is the worst I have driven for a long, long time. I am sorry for the team.”
Sutil is under investigation by the stewards for blocking, but Hamilton admits it wasn’t the primary factor in him not making it through.
“It doesn’t matter anyway,” he said. “I should have done it on the lap before anyway.”
![Isack Hadjar [pictured] has deferred to Max Verstappen for Day 2 of the F1 pre-season test. Image: Red Bull Content Pool](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Isack-Hadjar-Red-Bull-test-2026-350x250.webp)
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