Liam Lawson rages at Lewis Hamilton during the F1 Abu Dhabi GP qualifying

During the qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Liam Lawson found himself behind Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll amid his flyer, leading him to suffer a radio outburst due to the Briton not getting out of his way on time. Drivers were squabbling to put in respectable lap times in the hopes of moving into Q2.

The Abu Dhabi GP would bring the curtains to the 2025 season, and a host of drama has already taken place in the initial phase of the weekend. Yuki Tsunoda and Kimi Antonelli had already collided in the pit lane before the qualifying session, and the saga about drivers getting interrupted by slow-moving cars during qualifying has been a tradition around the Middle Eastern track.

This tradition made its presence as early as Q1 as Lawson was trying to put in a solid lap to move into Q2. However, Hamilton and Stroll were lined up ahead of him.

While the Ferrari driver tried to overtake Stroll in the buildup to his lap, in the process, Lawson found himself trying to navigate his way around two F1 cars. Upset with the shenanigans, he said over the radio after completing his lap:

"Mate, honestly. Does he even look in his mirrors?"

Despite the distraction, Lawson was able to move into Q2 as he posted the 10th fastest lap time during Q1.

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Lewis Hamilton apologizes to Ferrari after getting knocked out in Q1

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton at the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi race weekend - Source: Getty

Though Liam Lawson was able to move into Q2, the same cannot be said for Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time champion was once again knocked out in the first segment of the qualifying session. Moreover, this came after his crash during the final practice session of the race weekend.

So, the Briton had arrived at the qualifying session with his SF-25 repaired between FP3 and qualifying. Due to this, he was sent out on the medium tires for his first run, when he had reported to Ferrari that the car felt fine.

However, this didn't translate into a strong pace. He ended the session in P16, as his race engineer informed him over the radio:

"That's P16 I'm afraid."

Subsequently, Hamilton apologized to the team for this result and said:

"Every time mate, I'm so sorry."

On the other hand, while Lewis Hamilton was knocked out in Q1, his teammate Charles Leclerc was easily able to move into Q2 and then made it into Q3. This goes hand in hand with their intra-team qualifying head-to-head, where the Monegasque ends the season with a clear advantage, at 19-5 in the battle against his teammate.