Charles Leclerc has words of sympathy for Lewis Hamilton as the 7x F1 champion suffers from another disastrous qualifying performance

Charles Leclerc has shared words of sympathy for his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton after the latter suffered a torrid qualifying session. Hamilton was knocked out in Q1 during the qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton arrived in Abu Dhabi with the hopes of scoring a solid result after a dismal weekend in Qatar. However, he had to sit out the FP1 session as Arthur Leclerc took over the SF-25 for a drive around Yas Marina.

Then, when he got back inside the cockpit of the SF-25, his pace was not startling. Moreover, he suffered a crash during FP3 as he lost the rear end of the car at turn 9.

To further rub salt in his wounds, he suffered a Q1 elimination. So, with a torrid initial phase of the race weekend, Lewis Hamilton is already on the back foot. But when Leclerc was asked about his opinion on the Briton's struggles, he replied (via Motorsport.com):

"I'm driving the car as well and I can see how tricky the car is – how you've just got to go full commitment and it's either in the wall or through Q1. Then you need to do the same in Q2 and then you need to do the same in Q3 and, I know what it's like to have a car that is... and also for the understanding of the car, it's much more difficult to understand something from the car when you really have to push to the absolute limit."

"In Q2 I thought I would put it into the wall quite a few times, and that makes it difficult to also improve the car – probably the McLaren or Red Bull do by pushing a little bit less in Q1 and Q2, you understand more about what's going on with the car. So, yeah, it's a tricky situation we are in."

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton is slated to start the race in 16th.

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Lewis Hamilton is optimistic for a better result on the raceday

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton after the qualifying for the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi - Source: Getty

Though this is not the first time that Lewis Hamilton has suffered a Q1 elimination this year, his mood was slightly better outside the cockpit. The 40-year-old is a multiple-race winner at the track and is a seasoned veteran.

So, after the qualifying session, Hamilton asserted that he wants to bring home a positive result for the team as the curtains fall over the 2025 season (via F1):

"I know this track well and I’ll be aiming to deliver a more positive result for the team tomorrow."

On the other hand, Hamilton is in an intense battle with Kimi Antonelli for sixth place in the drivers' standings. The pair is separated by only two points, and the teenager starts only two spots ahead of the Ferrari driver.