Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton revealed damaged suspension from Saturday’s Sprint compromised him during qualifying for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, leading to a Q1 exit.
Hamilton, who has a record five victories at the Circuit of the Americas, was aiming to rebound from an underwhelming run to sixth position in the earlier Sprint race.
However, he languished in the drop zone as the clock ticked down in Q1 and he was unable to climb higher than 16th place with his final attempt in the opening stage.
The Briton’s woes would be compounded as external improvements saw him relegated to 19th position, resigning him to a back-row start at best for tomorrow’s race.
However, speaking to select media including Motorsport Week, Hamilton revealed a damaged W15 was behind his lack of pace.
“[Today has] been pretty terrible,” he said.
“The car felt great [on Friday], so I obviously came in really optimistic for today, but something failed in the front suspension, literally as we pulled away from the line for the Sprint formation lap and I had that through the race.
“So they figured that out, they changed the corner, but it just felt like a mess.”
Lewis Hamilton ‘can’t explain’ Q1 exit
Hamilton’s qualifying form has been mixed in 2024, and Saturday’s performance was the second Q1 exit of his campaign this year.
However, after missing out on a pole run in Friday’s Sprint Qualifying session due to yellow flags, Hamilton attributed Saturday’s troubles to his car.
“I was about to qualify pole yesterday, so it’s not a mental problem,” he exclaimed.
“The suspension’s failing and not braking and things aren’t coming together.
“Today, honestly, I can’t explain – you’d have the team what happened with the suspension. But I know the guys are working as hard as they can [to fix it].”
From 19th on the grid, Hamilton’s prospects look slim at best for Sunday’s GP at COTA.
Searching for a crumb of inspiration ahead of Sunday’s main event, Hamilton looked back to his karting experience.
“I started in karting, with a pretty bad go-kart and used to come through the field.
“So I’ll see if I can do that tomorrow.”
Mercedes’ day was compounded with George Russell crashing out of the top-10 Q3 shootout, resigning him to sixth.
It goes to show the difference 24 hours can make in F1, when Russell was a whisker away from claiming pole in Sprint Qualifying.
READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton rues yellow flag costing him F1 US GP Sprint pole
