Lewis Hamilton Subtly Plays Blame Game After Shock Q2 Exit at Azerbaijan GP Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton hinted that he was not to blame for a disappointing result at Azerbaijan GP Qualifying.

Lewis Hamilton Subtly Plays Blame Game After Shock Q2 Exit at Azerbaijan GP Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton (via Reuters)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

Lewis Hamilton had a disappointing end to Qualifying at the Azerbaijan GP. The seven-time world seemed to have decent pace at the start of the session. However, the Briton failed to even make it to the top 10. Now, Hamilton has hinted that he was not to be blamed for this result.

The Ferrari driver hoped to have a decent run in Baku this weekend after marginal improvements in Monza. However, the 2025 season seems to be brutal for Lewis Hamilton. In Q2, the seven-time world champion failed to put in a decent lap to even make it to the top 10. Lewis Hamilton will start the race from P12, behind teammate Charles Leclerc who starts in P10.

Following the session, Lewis Hamilton asserted that he was not going to take the blame for his exit. The 40-year-old did not directly name any other factor for his result. Though it seems that the British driver might be trying to play the blame game towards Ferrari.

I don’t feel [Q2 elimination] down to my driving.

Lewis Hamilton said post-qualifying

Lewis Hamilton revealed that he wanted to have a run on the medium tire in Qualifying. Though Ferrari informed the 40-year-old that the tire would likely not work due to warm-up issues. This ultimately led to the Briton losing time and fuel, ending his session.

I wanted [a medium] but they said the warm up was too long or something like that so I ran out of time and ran out of fuel.

Lewis Hamilton added

Lewis Hamilton was shooting for pole at Azerbaijan GP

On paper, Lewis Hamilton simply didn’t have the pace to even be one of the ten fastest cars on track in the streets of Baku. However, the Ferrari driver had far greater hopes before the session. So much so, Hamilton was confident that he would end his 2-year drought when it comes to pole positions.

Lewis Hamilton (via Getty)
Lewis Hamilton (via Getty)

The seven-time world champion was baffled with the way he was eliminated in Q2. Lewis Hamilton insisted that he had plans to fight for pole position. This unsurprisingly shocked the Briton who had no option but to move on. The Briton insisted that he has a good car on Friday, but perhaps the garage made a wrong call before Qualifying.

There’s been positives this weekend, I really felt on it. I honestly thought I was going to be shooting for pole today so it’s come as a bit of a shock (to get knocked out so early) but I’ll take it on the chin. I’m obviously so disappointed. Yesterday the car was feeling good, today we went on a direction that we ended up going… I mean, our pace had been good, we were progressing, I was feeling really on it, didn’t make any mistakes…

Lewis Hamilton explained

Certainly, Lewis Hamilton is far from happy following his disappointing result in Qualifying. The British driver may have hinted towards external factors behind the result, but Hamilton is not known for pointing figures. It is likely that the seven-time world champion will have a conversation with the team and sort things out ahead of the race on Sunday. Hamilton may be able to make up places in the race as Baku is known to throw in surprises.

Read More: Max Verstappen Overjoyed After Winning Baku Pole Despite “Running out of Tires”