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Considering the Constructors’ Championship is out of reach for Mercedes, item numero uno on their to-do list for Formula 1‘s season finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and seven-time champ Lewis Hamilton‘s last with the team, was to give him the send-off he deserves before moving down to Maranello and joining Ferrari next season.

Well, the weekend isn’t over yet, but so far, they haven’t done that, although it’s not completely their fault.

It’s been rough sledding at times this season for Hamilton, and while he has shown some pace in practice, he has struggled in qualifying.

So, perhaps that was why Mercedes waited a little bit longer to send him out for his final run in Q1, perhaps hoping that the track would ramp up as it often does.

That approach often works — and we sometimes see a game of chicken with drivers trying to be last to take advantage of track evolution — but the risk is that if something goes wrong on that late lap, there’s not enough time to make up for it.

Well, something went very wrong for Hamilton, and in a way, absolutely no one could have seen it coming.

Haas’ Kevin Magnussen — likely taking part in his last F1 weekend (although we said that before); he’ll join BMW’s hypercar program next season — veered off track and struck a bollard which bounced directly into Hamilton’s path.

It got wedged under his car and ruined any hopes he had of getting out of Q1.

Hamilton qualified P18, but is expected to start in P16 thanks to some penalties to other drivers.

Still, that’s not going to make what happened on Saturday an easier pill to swallow.

“I mean, you couldn’t have timed it more perfectly – that bollard,” Hamilton said, per Formula1.com. “It happened just… it was meant to be.

“I was really hopeful. I really thought that we had a chance at getting a podium. The car was feeling good but it wasn’t meant to be in the end. I know I did everything right and I’m confident that I’ve taken the right steps this weekend. We’ll try and fight from there.”

Mercedes team boss, Toto Wolff, apologized to him after the session.

“An idiotic mistake of not going earlier,” Wolff said. “Inexcusable. I’ve rarely been so down about what has happened.”