F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Reveals What Went Wrong as Car Failure Confirmed After Poor Qualifying

Alex Harrington | 2 Hours Ago

Oct 19, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team driver Lewis Hamilton (44) of Team Great Britain drives during the Sprint Race in the 2024 Formula One US Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton has faced a challenging weekend so far at the 2024 United States Grand Prix, following car failures and a surprisingly early exit in qualifying. Hamilton openly discussed the technical issues impacting his Mercedes, particularly a front suspension failure that reared its head during the formation lap of the Sprint race and persisted throughout the event.

Visually dissatisfied with the car's performance, Hamilton has even suggested starting the race from the pit lane rather than his current grid position. Work obviously needs to be done to the W15.

"In the Sprint we had some sort of failure from the formation lap on the front suspension. I had that throughout the Sprint race. That made the balance really difficult," Hamilton explained.

Despite the mechanical issues, Hamilton managed to finish the Sprint in P6, although he still wasn't happy with his Brackley machinery.

"We changed a couple of things which pushed us in the direction in what we would have done yesterday. The car was a nightmare in qualifying," he said, following a P19 result at COTA.

The United States Grand Prix saw Lando Norris deliver an impressive performance, securing pole position for McLaren, while Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz locked in P2 and P3, respectively. In the initial qualifying stage, while teams like McLaren and Ferrari took early to the track, Red Bull and Mercedes opted for a delay. Norris set an early benchmark, which Verstappen later bested, posting the fastest time of Q1. However, both Mercedes drivers faced difficulties, with George Russell barely securing a spot in Q2 and Hamilton experiencing a lock-up leading to an early elimination.

In Q2, Verstappen continued his momentum, leading with laps on used soft tires but was eventually outdone by Norris, who set a faster time. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc edged out potential elimination, securing a strong position that would carry through to Q3. The concluding qualifying session was not devoid of drama. Norris retained his top spot amidst the competitive field, while George Russell's crash froze the field leaving Sergio Perez starting P10 tomorrow and Verstappen without

"I should probably start in the pit lane, otherwise I won’t be going anywhere from where I am," Hamilton admitted, expecting Mercedes to be changing his setup for tomorrow's race so he can at least try and squeeze some performance from the car.

Tomorrow will be a struggle for the British driver, who has a solid history on this track. But his performance paired with Russell's untimely incident shows us that the German brand haven't been able to fully utilize their latest upgrades.