‘Something buckled’ – Lewis Hamilton in high-speed crash during Abu Dhabi practice

Lewis Hamilton crashed out of final practice at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton lost complete control of his car on soft tires through turn nine which saw him complete a 360-degree spin before crashing head-on into the barriers.

The Ferrari driver now faces an anxious wait to see if his car will be ready for Saturday’s qualifying session.

The crash caused notable damage to the front of his Ferrari however Hamilton was able to walk away from the accident.

Cause of the crash

He was heard saying on the radio: “Something buckled at the front and snapped the rear.”

Hamilton then issues an apology to his team before picking up a damaged part of his front wing and placing it on top of the car before being taken back to the pit lane on the back of a moped.

The one-hour running was red-flagged for 13 minutes to enable Hamilton’s Ferrari to be removed from the track at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Qualifying is due to start at 18:00 local (14:00 GMT) meaning mechanics face a race against time to have Hamilton’s car ready in time.

Discussing the crash Hamilton’s former title rival Nico Rosberg said: “It’s just rough. But I have to say that he was really going well until that point in time.

“It starts on the entry already. It starts with bottoming as he was turning in that already loosened up the rear, and then it had a follow-on effect.”

Sky Sports F1 pundit Anthony Davidson said of the incident: “As far as I can see, there’s nothing that’s buckling on the right, everything looks ok.

“Of course, when it goes into the wall, the damage is done to the right front and they’re not going to be able to tell now.

@f1

@f1

@f1

“Their post-session investigation is going to be a lot more difficult now because it’s all destroyed on the right front.

“The sparks start when he’s on the kerbs, the one tiny spark being kicked up, which is the first tell-tell sign that he’s ventured onto the kerb and lowered the car’s ride-height just before turning into the corner.

“I think the combination of that, high-speed corner and the turbulence of the car in front, on top of the balance not being great as well, went against him there.”

The seven-time world champion has failed to reach the heights expected following his move from Mercedes.

A difficult season

The 40-year-old sits sixth in the driver standings and has failed to register a single podium finish this season.

Ferrari teammate George Russell is currently 157 points and two places ahead of Hamilton in the standings.

AFP

Meanwhile, championship leader Lando Norris finished second in practice, four thousandths of a second behind Russell.

Max Verstappen came third, 0.124 seconds behind with Oscar Piastri finishing fifth.