SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium -- Mercedes faces a battle to get Lewis Hamilton's car ready for qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix after the world champion crashed out of final practice.
Hamilton made an uncharacteristic error during the session, losing control of the car on the approach to the quick right-left kink at Turn 12. He couldn't catch the snap and his car went off the road and into the red tyre barrier.
The championship leader was unhurt, climbing out of the car immediately. He opened his radio channel to apologise to the team, who will now need to fix the car in the short space between FP3 and qualifying, which starts at 2pm local time.