Hamilton, who leads the F1 championship by 19 points following the summer break , was 13th fastest on a warm day at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Hamilton was given a 30-place grid penalty on a day when local favorite Max Verstappen was fastest in qualifying. "In terms of winning, it's going to be very, very hard," Hamilton told reporters. This would earn a further grid penalty, but Hamilton is already at the back of the 22-car field and the sanction cannot be carried over to the next race. "But I was lucky to drive the 2004-2005 car, and even in 2009, they were more extreme F1 cars.

Source: CNN August 26, 2016 16:18 UTC