Lewis Hamilton handed positive message after destroying Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton has been told Ferrari will "get it done" in repairing his "destroyed" car ahead of qualifying following a smash at the end of the final practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The seven-time F1 champion suffered a near-identical incident to Alpine's Pierre Gasly in FP2, in which both drivers ran wide on the exit of the Fagnes chicane, careered across the short gravel trap before hitting the end of a barrier with the rears of their cars.

Whilst Alpine had overnight to repair Gasly's wrecked machinery, Hamilton's Ferrari mechanics have just over two hours to repair the SF-26 ahead of a qualifying session that starts at 3pm BST [4pm CET; 10am EST].

Asked as to how long it took the Alpine crew to repair Gasly's car, team principal Steve Nielsen, speaking to Sky Sports F1, said: "I don't know the extent of the damage. If it's the same as ours, they'll get it done.

"They'll have pre-assembled gearboxes, rear suspension and stuff, just as we did. I'd rather be in our position last night than theirs today. But I'm sure they'll sort it out."

Explaining why that part of the track has become tricky for the drivers to handle so far this weekend, with many others catching the gravel but avoiding the incidents encountered by Gasly and Hamilton, Nielsen added: "He had slight understeer.

"He then got on the curb, and once you're on the curb, you're a bit of a passenger, and then it sucks you into the gravel and the guardrail thereafter. 

"Because of the way the guardrail kicks out to protect the marshals there, it punishes you if you go off."

As to the damage sustained to the Alpine, Nielsen said: "Rear suspension, front wing, rear wing.

"We were due to change the power unit on Pierre's car yesterday anyway, so the workload for the mechanics, while it was increased, it wasn't completely new."