F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Reveals Reason Behind Disastrous USGP Weekend

Saajan Jogia | Oct 21, 2024

Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Lewis Hamilton's car scrapes in turn four during qualifying at the Formula 1 Pirelli United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton suspects the team's United States Grand Prix upgrades led to his disastrous weekend at the Circuit of the Americas. The seven-time world champion encountered suspension issues during both the sprint race and qualifying on Saturday. His troubles continued into Sunday’s Grand Prix, where he violently spun into the gravel at Turn 19 on lap three.

Hamilton faced a turbulent weekend in Austin, as Mercedes' inconsistent performance once again left both drivers and the team perplexed. His attempt at a strong recovery in Saturday's sprint race was destroyed by an early suspension issue that compromised the balance of his W15. Adding to the frustration, Hamilton's struggles continued in the main qualifying session, where he failed to progress beyond Q1, finishing a disappointing 19th.

However, he started 17th on the grid due to Liam Lawson's power unit grid penalty and his teammate George Russell's pitlane start. Hamilton made an impressive launch, climbing to 12th by the end of the opening lap. Unfortunately, his progress was soon derailed by the spin that ended his race, coincidentally in the same corner where Russell spun the previous day and crashed into the barriers.

The 39-year-old driver suspects the new upgrades triggered bouncing issues, completely disrupting the balance of his car. Speaking on the incident during the USGP, he told Motorsport.com:

“I had a great start, was feeling good and got up to 12th. It was the best start that I’ve had at turn one in a long time.

“I wasn’t even pushing at that point; I was literally just trying to get going and bringing the tires up to temperature.

“The car started bouncing, the left front started bouncing and the rear end just came round. It was the same as George yesterday."

Hamilton was confident that the bouncing issue would have resurfaced later in the race had he not spun out. He added:

“If I didn’t have the bouncing stuff on that lap I think it would have happened on a later lap coming up, because something wasn’t quite right there with the car.

“It has been the same most of the weekend with this new package we have, so it was obviously devastating. But it is what it is.”

The British driver then highlighted the similarity with Russell's incident in qualifying, whose car performed better after he reverted to the old-spec W15 for the Grand Prix. This led Hamilton to conclude that the upgrades could have led to the challenges at COTA. He added:

“In P1 I had the same thing.

“I had the spin in Turn 3, which is so rare. I have never spun in Turn 3 in all the years I’ve been here.

“I was just saying about George obviously having the same problem yesterday, he has gone back to the old-spec car and is looking good out there, so maybe there is something with the new upgrade.”

When asked if Mercedes would switch to the older spec for the upcoming Mexican Grand Prix, Hamilton said:

“We will investigate as much as we can, and after today we will get the data and see if we are going to be on the old or the new spec next week.”