Lewis Hamilton’s final qualifying session of the 2025 season ended in another early exit as the seven-time world champion dropped out in Q1 at Yas Marina. Ferrari entered the weekend hoping for a late turnaround, but the Briton’s night collapsed under the weight of a difficult build-up, a repaired car, and a track that kept evolving as temperatures fell.The setback continues a trend that has defined his closing stretch of the year. Hamilton’s poor run in qualifying has been one of the most persistent storylines of Ferrari’s season. He has been on the back foot since the summer break, and his struggles have only deepened with each round.Once the Q1 session ended, Hamilton’s final position was 16th. The team radio summed up the mood inside the Ferrari garage.“P16 I’m afraid…” engineer Riccardo Adami told him.Hamilton replied:“Yeah, every time mate… I’m so sorry.”The results speak for themselves. Lewis Hamilton started 18th in Belgium, eighth at COTA, 11th in Brazil, 18th again in Qatar, and now 16th in Abu Dhabi. A late crash in FP3 only deepened the deficit, forcing a full rebuild and pushing Ferrari into a reactive mode before qualifying had even begun.The session itself unfolded quickly. Hamilton left the garage early on medium tires to check the car’s systems after the rebuild. Track temperatures dropped by nearly ten degrees from FP3, and the field waited for conditions to come to them. When the first laps came in, Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto briefly set the pace.Ferrari split compounds, with Charles Leclerc also heading out on mediums. The field bunched up in the final minutes. Alonso jumped to fourth, and Gasly slipped to 16th. Lewis Hamilton’s time left him exposed as both Kick Sauber drivers improved. Bortoleto’s late lap confirmed Hamilton's knockout in Q1 for the third consecutive race. It was his fourth Q1 exit of the season with five Q2 exits.Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc fall out of contention at the season finaleCharles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton of Scuderia Ferrari. Source: GettyLewis Hamilton remains winless this season and is now set to finish a full year without a Grand Prix podium for the first time in his career. Ferrari, too, is without a victory, and the final weekend has only reinforced how difficult 2025 has been. The practice sessions at Yas Marina saw steady mileage, no real breakthroughs, and a car that never showed the one-lap bite required to change the narrative.Ferrari’s Friday programme was extensive. Charles and Arthur Leclerc opened FP1, running on hards before moving to softs for a qualifying simulation. Arthur focused on correlation work, gathering data for the factory rather than the weekend.In FP2, Leclerc cycled through mediums before shifting back to softs. Hamilton took over the car and followed a similar pattern, setting his best time on softs before completing a higher-fuel run on mediums. All three compounds - C3, C4, and C5 - were logged, and 115 laps were completed between the three drivers.Even so, the car never seemed entirely comfortable. The track evolved steadily as it cleaned up, but Ferrari’s pace never lifted in step with the conditions. Lewis Hamilton’s early crash in FP3 cut his session short and forced extensive repairs before the next session. When qualifying arrived, the missing track time and lack of confidence showed. Leclerc managed eighth in the final practice, insisting the car felt better than the day before, but the step wasn’t enough to put Ferrari in the fight.Hamilton’s Q1 exit seals a flat end to a season that never ignited. Leclerc reached Q3, but neither driver was truly in the mix. Ferrari now heads into Sunday with damage to limit rather than opportunities to chase - a familiar theme in a year where the team has rarely held track position and never built sustained momentum.