Nico Rosberg has held no punches in criticising Lewis Hamilton for his 'unnecessary' mistake that cost him dearly in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton got off to a strong start on Saturday as he finished second ahead of Sergio Perez in the first sprint race of the season.
That should have given him plenty of optimism heading into qualifying for Sunday's race.
But the seven-time world champion left himself with plenty of work to do in the final stages of Q1 with the track evolving quickly.
Lewis Hamilton was knocked out in Q1
GETTY
Hamilton appeared on track to comfortably make it through to the next stage of qualifying, but he locked up and went wide at the penultimate corner, costing him around six-tenths of a second.
It proved costly as Hamilton ended the session 18th with Rosberg laying into his former team-mate on Sky Sports.
He said: "That is seriously painful. In 18th position is Lewis.
"You know the wind is coming from the back there at that part of the track.
"He had a great lap until then.
"It was really unnecessary to push the limit and as a seven-time world champion that is a mistake which should be unavoidable.
"It's three metres too late and he had the brake balance too far forward.
"He lost at least four tenths which easily would have put him in Q2. That's a disaster."
Toto Wolff couldn't believe Lewis Hamilton's mistake either
SKYSPORTS
Toto Wolff also appeared frustrated over the incident as cameras in the Mercedes garage picked up the moment he saw Hamilton's mistake.
The Mercedes boss lifted his head and looked to the sky in disbelief as Hamilton's weekend was made that bit tougher.
Hamilton's second-place finish in the sprint race earlier in the day helped improve his points position in the Drivers' Championship.
LATEST SPORT NEWS:
Lewis Hamilton will have plenty of work to do on Sunday
GETTY
However, he remains ninth in the standings behind Aston Martin star Fernando Alonso.
Mercedes are currently in a battle with Aston Martin for fourth in the Constructors' Championship through the first five races of the year.
McLaren are already 34 points ahead of Mercedes with Ferrari further out in front.