F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Reacts to Bizarre Qualifying Issue That Ruined His Saturday

Alex Harrington | Dec 7, 2024

Nov 23, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team driver Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain (44) arrives for the Las Vegas Grand Prix drivers parade at the Las Vegas Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images / Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

Lewis Hamilton's swansong with Mercedes turned bittersweet as a dramatic qualifying session at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix placed him towards the back of the grid for his final race with the team. Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, found his Saturday efforts marred by a bizarre qualifying issue, bringing an unexpected close to a defining era in Formula 1 history. Following qualifying, he's now reacted to what ruined his Saturday.

During the qualifying session, Hamilton recorded an 18th-place finish in Q1, narrowly missing progression by just 0.093 seconds. The session’s chaotic final moments saw several cars jostling for track space, ultimately culminating in a peculiar incident. Kevin Magnussen's Haas, moving out the way of the speeding Silver Arrow driver, inadvertently dislodged a bollard on the track.

This bollard was pushed into the middle of the track, and with some extremely bad luck, became lodged under Hamilton's car, restricting its performance and downforce, consequently hindering his final lap.

"I was the last car on track and ran out of time ultimately," Hamilton admitted to the media. "And then I got the bollard at the end which went under the car and I lost all downforce so it couldn't have gone worse really."

Reflecting on his performance, Hamilton was open about the mistakes he made during his last qualifying with Mercedes.

"Yeah, I messed that up big time guys," he said over the radio to his team. His race engineer, Peter Bonnington, shared in the lament, responding, "Yeah sorry about that Lewis, that was a big balls up." Although the details of this incident painted a harsh picture for Hamilton’s final race, they were in stark contrast to the legacy he leaves behind, a legacy defined by six world titles clinched with Mercedes.

The driver's departure from Mercedes marks the end of an era that began in 2013, when the team was yet to win a world championship. Recruited by the late Niki Lauda, Hamilton's partnership with Mercedes turned into one of the most successful ventures in F1 history. This period saw unprecedented dominance, with Hamilton not only winning numerous championships but also contributing significantly to the team's monumental standing in the sport.

"Every day and more than ever I've just tried to be really present... every moment is a special moment," he shared.

The past few years have been challenging for Hamilton and Mercedes, following the controversial end to the 2021 season where Max Verstappen edged him out for the championship title. The subsequent seasons were lackluster under the ground effect regulations, with Mercedes experiencing a prolonged drought. These struggles perhaps influenced Hamilton's surprising decision in January to move to Ferrari. By making this move, Hamilton aims to clinch an elusive eighth world title, surpassing the legendary Michael Schumacher.

"Every practice session went well, I was ahead of my team-mate all weekend but when we got to qualifying I think as a team we didn't perform in terms of the timing," Hamilton continued.

"I would have loved to get a podium for the guys this weekend and it just didn't work out," he reflected. "You couldn't make it up, you really couldn't, but it is what it is. We gave it everything, I gave it everything, the car was in a good place."

As Hamilton bids farewell to Mercedes, the team readies for an upcoming chapter that will see young rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli step into Hamilton’s shoes.