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Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes can only “laugh off” its Formula 1 car struggles after a difficult qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday.

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Mercedes appeared to make a breakthrough with its W13 car in Hungary ahead of the summer as Hamilton 

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teammate George Russell both finished on the podium, with Russell having also started on pole. 

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But the Silver Arrows slipped back again in qualifying at Spa as Hamilton and Russell could only finish seventh and eighth

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Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff called the result “unacceptable” and labelled it as the worst qualifying session he had experienced in 10 years. 

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Asked how disappointing the result was given Mercedes’ momentum before the summer break,  

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Hamilton replied: “I just don’t want to use the word disappointing, because we’ve got to remember that there are 2000 people back at the factory that are working so hard to get it right. 

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“Of course I wish that we got it right and we brought upgrades that would push us forward 

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and I wish we were fighting at the front, but it is the way that it is and it hurts. Believe me, it hurts. 

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“But at this point, you’ve just got to laugh it off and say I am not fighting for a championship. If I get too serious and too low…