F1: 1.8s gap to Verstappen a real "kick in the Teeth"

“Everyone’s working hard for improvements, and we came here very optimistic that we’re going to close the gap, so to be 1.8 seconds behind is a real kick in the teeth but it is what it is,” said a dejected Lewis Hamilton (shown above arriving at Spa) after qualifying for the Belgian GP at Spa.

“This is a car that we continue to struggle with, and I definitely won’t miss it at the end of the year.

“The other two teams ahead of us are in another league and we can’t keep relying on them to fall off.

“We have to regroup and make sure next year’s car is where we need it to be, and we’ll do the best we can with what we have for the rest of the season.

“We were a little too draggy and the aero balance through the corners wasn’t stable so it’s very hard to work around that, but we’ll try our best for tomorrow.

“Knowing how hard everyone is working, I’m gutted for the team because we’re giving it our all, but it’s the fundamentals of this car – sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s really bad.”