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SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium: Lewis Hamilton blamed himself and said he would apologize to Ferrari for an “unacceptable” performance on Saturday after he suffered another qualifying flop, his second in two days, at the Belgian Grand Prix.

The 40-year-old seven-time world champion, who was eliminated in first sprint qualifying on Friday when he spun at the chicane, repeated his disappointment as he qualified in a forlorn 16th place for Sunday’s race.

Team-mate Charles Leclerc qualified third after Hamilton had exceeded track limits in Q1 and had his best lap deleted.

“It was the same today as it was for the rest of the weekend,” said Hamilton.

“We made some changes and the car didn’t feel terrible.

“It was tough for us. We had to put on our set of tires just to try to get through Q1 so it’s not great.

“From my side, I made a mistake so I’ve got to look internally and I’ve got to apologize to my team because that is just unacceptable to be out in both Q1s. It’s a very poor performance from myself.

“I will start from where I am and see what I can do to achieve the best I can with what we have. This season has been a tricky one.”

Hamilton has won the Belgian race five times including inheriting victory last year when his then-Mercedes team-mate George Russell was disqualified after winning in an underweight car.

Leclerc was upbeat and surprised to be third on the grid.

“I’m very happy today and it’s strange to say that because it’s still three-tenths and it’s only third place, but I did not expect it,’ he said.

“I think we thought we were quite a lot more behind (the McLarens). We knew we had something more in the car and obviously we had the upgrade this weekend, but we still struggled yesterday.

“I had a really good lap and I’m happy with the car. It takes time to maximize the upgrades that we put on the car.2

Hamilton’s success last year was the last of his record 105 wins from 368 race starts in arguably the most successful career of all time, but since leaving Mercedes for Ferrari this year he has struggled and has yet to claim his first podium for the Italian team.

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium: Max Verstappen said Red Bull could always count on him, as the four-times Formula One champion gave new team boss Laurent Mekies a winning start in a Saturday sprint at the Belgian Grand Prix.

The race was the first since Christian Horner, who led Red Bull into Formula One in 2005, was dismissed by the team’s owners.

Verstappen seized the lead on the opening lap from second at the start and kept McLaren’s Oscar Piastri behind him to secure his and the team’s first win of any sort since Imola in May.

While worth only eight points, the victory was a significant statement after the recent restructure at the Milton Keynes factory.

“The team can always count on me. They will always get my very best, whoever is in charge. They know that. I’m never holding back or anything,” Verstappen told reporters.

“I’m always trying to give them the best possible result, and that’s also what they pay me for. For sure, it’s positive. We need, of course, positive energy, and that’s a great start for us.”

Verstappen said it was too early to talk about further changes to be made at Red Bull and Mekies needed to build relationships and see how the team operated.

“Then at one point, you come to conclusions and maybe you want to change something, and this is something that will happen over the coming weeks, months,” he said.

“So, it’s really early days, but so far, he’s very keen and very motivated, and that’s exactly what you want also. I got on very well with him. So, yeah, it’s been a very good start.”