Formula 1 Azerbaijan GP
Lewis Hamilton explains mistake that caused F1 Baku qualifying elimination
Lewis Hamilton was knocked out of Q2 by his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc and complained he was on the wrong tyre compound for the conditions
Stuart Codling
Edited: Sep 20, 2025, 5:34 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Bryn Lennon - Getty Images
"We didn’t have the right tyre on at the end."
That was a downcast Lewis Hamilton’s bald assessment of why he was eliminated from qualifying for the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The reasons for him being on the wrong tyre are mysterious.
For this weekend, Pirelli has brought tyre compounds a step softer than last year, including the new C6 it introduced in Imola. But, given the small performance step between that and the C5, and the teams’ relative unfamiliarity with the new soft tyre, it was expected that the medium compound would be preferred in the critical moments of qualifying.
Read Also:
Formula 1F1 Azerbaijan GP: Max Verstappen denies Carlos Sainz shock pole as Oscar Piastri crashes
Formula 1F1 2025 qualifying head-to-head: Azerbaijan GP
Ferrari appeared to be caught out when Q2 restarted after the fourth red flag of a disrupted qualifying session. With just over 12 minutes left to run, Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc were the first to emerge from the pitlane – but Leclerc was on C5s, Hamilton on C6s.
Hamilton was then unable to summon a quick enough lap from the unpredictable soft tyres and was knocked out by Fernando Alonso; having lapped 0.787s off Norris’s benchmark time, he was in 10th place and vulnerable when Alonso escaped the bottom five. Leclerc subsequently compounded the issue by breaking out of the drop zone too.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Joe Portlock / LAT Images via Getty Images
"Honestly, I'm obviously so disappointed," said Hamilton afterwards.
"Yesterday [when Hamilton led Leclerc to a 1-2 in FP2] the car was feeling good, today there was some direction that we ended up going which on paper looked like it was the best place for us to be.
"And ultimately, our pace had been good, we'd been progressing, I was feeling really on it, didn't make any mistakes, you didn't see me go down any exit roads, it was just that we didn't have the right tyre on at the end – and it's tough.
"Everyone ahead of me basically had the medium tyre on, but I lost a medium tyre in FP2 and due to our run plan, and that put me on the back foot."
It is understood that Hamilton was marginal on fuel and would not have been able to complete another lap as the clock ticked down in Q2 – given that he had already had a push lap on the C6s anyway, the question was academic. But could he have taken one of the mediums being held back?
"I wanted to," he explained, "but they said that the warm-up was too long or something like that, so then we ran out of time and then ran out of fuel.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Jayce Illman / Getty Images
"So not great, but we'll take it internal. As I said, there's been lots of positives from this weekend, I've really felt on it. I honestly thought I was going to be shooting for a pole today and so it's kind of a bit of a shock, but I'll take it on a chin and keep trying."
The main issue with the C6s, apart from the marginal lap-time gain over the C5s, has been their vulnerability to spikes in surface temperature – one meaningful slide, a frequent occurrence on a circuit with 20 corners, can be terminal in terms of peak performance.
Although the C5 mediums were felt to be the better tyre, they generally required two warm-up laps in preparation for a push. Hamilton would therefore have been marginal for time, let alone fuel, had he been able to swap after his first push lap on the C6s.
But questions will remain over Ferrari’s judgement – especially since several teams were running used mediums and still felt they were more effective than C6s.
Photos from Azerbaijan GP - Practice and Qualifying
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Azerbaijan GP - Saturday, in photos
Formula 1
77
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article F1 Azerbaijan GP: Max Verstappen denies Carlos Sainz shock pole as Oscar Piastri crashes
Next article Here's the starting grid for F1's 2025 Azerbaijan GP
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Stuart Codling
F1 Singapore GP live commentary and updates: Max Verstappen cruises to victory
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
F1 Singapore GP live commentary and updates: Max Verstappen cruises to victory
Pierre Gasly questions FIA stewards' decision not to penalise Lando Norris after Singapore crash
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Pierre Gasly questions FIA stewards' decision not to penalise Lando Norris after Singapore crash
More from
Lewis Hamilton
Oscar Piastri on his Singapore puncture: “Ironically, it probably helped”
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Oscar Piastri on his Singapore puncture: “Ironically, it probably helped”
Why Ferrari caved in to Lewis Hamilton’s failed Singapore F1 gamble
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Why Ferrari caved in to Lewis Hamilton’s failed Singapore F1 gamble
More from
Ferrari
Ferrari promotes F2 racer to F1 reserve driver role
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Ferrari promotes F2 racer to F1 reserve driver role
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
Latest news
FIA expects F1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to continue as planned
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
FIA expects F1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to continue as planned
TDS Racing doubles down on IMSA program with two-car LMP2 return
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 1 h
TDS Racing doubles down on IMSA program with two-car LMP2 return
Why Isack Hadjar doesn’t like F1 sprints anymore
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
2 h
Why Isack Hadjar doesn’t like F1 sprints anymore
Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen to race for JR Motorsports again in 2027
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
3 h
Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen to race for JR Motorsports again in 2027
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe