Grid demotion for Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli for technical infringement

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli will start the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix from the pit lane after making changes to their setup for the main race. It has been an awful weekend for the two drivers as they have both failed to get out of the first part of qualifying in both the sprint shootout on Friday and the main qualifying on Saturday.

The duo also was unable to make significant progress in the Sprint race and finished in the bottom five during the 15 laps on Saturday. Now, ahead of the main race, both Antonelli and Hamilton have pulled out of the parc ferme owing to making changes to their respective cars.

Lewis Hamilton has taken several power unit elements for his SF-25, such as a new battery and control electronics, along with ICE, MGU-H, MGU-K, and turbochargers. Kimi Antonelli, on the other hand, will have new ICE, MGU-H, MGU-K, and turbochargers and start alongside his predecessor.

The duo will be joined by Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso in the pit lane, as the Spanish driver has also taken similar components to his Mercedes counterpart. Starting from the pit lane will enable the three drivers to make setup changes to their cars and make them more suitable for the wet conditions.

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Lewis Hamilton gives a downbeat review of his performance in qualifying

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton stated that he did not feel any significant difference in the car after making some setup changes from the sprint race to the qualifying.

As per F1.com, the seven-time F1 world champion reflected and said:

"I was the same as I was for the rest of the weekend. We made some changes, the car didn’t feel terrible. I think it was even tougher for us. We had to put a second set [of soft tyres] on just to get through Q1." “Then from my side, another mistake, so I’ve really got to look internally. I’ve got to apologise to my team, because that’s just unacceptable to be out in both Q1s. It’s a very, very poor performance from myself.”

While looking ahead to the main race, the Ferrari driver added:

“Anything can happen here. I don’t know. I have no clue about tomorrow. It’s going to be very hard from where I am, so definitely a weekend to forget. I mean, we’re trying to do the best with what we have, and then everyone is working flat out back at the factory."

Lewis Hamilton won the previous edition of the Belgian Grand Prix, which was also his last victory for Mercedes in 2024. The British driver would hope that the mixed conditions might help him make some progress up the grid and bring in some points this weekend.

Edited by Mitali