MONDAY MORNING DEBRIEF: How Hamilton expertly turned a P16 starting slot into a P4 finish in his farewell Mercedes race

Special ContributorMark Hughes
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Lewis Hamilton was on his way to comfortably clearing Q1 in Abu Dhabi qualifying – faster in the first two sectors than team mate George Russell, just as he had been throughout practice – before Kevin Magnussen’s Haas threw a bollard in his way.

That defined Hamilton’s whole weekend on what was his Mercedes farewell, leaving him to start 16th on the grid on a weekend when the W15 seemed to be working well.