Lewis Hamilton reveals what went wrong when the car’s failure was confirmed after poor qualifying

Formula One 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 from qualifying. Hamilton spoke openly about the technical issues plaguing his Mercedes, particularly a front suspension failure that arose during the formation lap of the Sprint race and persisted throughout the event.

Visually unsatisfied with the car’s performance, Hamilton has even suggested starting the race from the pit-lane instead of his current grid position. Obviously, it has to work with W15.

“In the Sprint we had some kind of failure on the formation lap in the front suspension. I had it the whole Sprint race. That made the balance very difficult,” explained Hamilton.

Despite the mechanical problems, Hamilton managed to finish the Sprint in P6, although he was still not happy with his Brackley machinery.

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

The United States Grand Prix saw Lando Norris put in an impressive performance, securing pole position for McLaren, while Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz finished P2 and P3 respectively. In the opening qualifying stage, while teams such as McLaren and Ferrari took to the track early, Red Bull and Mercedes opted for a delay. Norris set an early benchmark, which Verstappen later overtook, setting the fastest time in Q1. However, both Mercedes drivers faced difficulties, with George Russell barely securing a place in Q2 and Hamilton experiencing a lockup that led to an early exit.

In Q2, Verstappen continued his momentum, leading laps on used soft tyres, but was eventually overtaken by Norris, who set a faster time. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc overcame a potential elimination, securing a strong position that would carry into Q3. The final qualifying session was not without drama. Norris retained his first place in the middle of the competitive field, while George Russell’s crash froze the field, leaving Sergio Perez to start 10th tomorrow and Verstappen without.

“I should probably start in the pit lane, otherwise I’m not going anywhere from where I am,” admitted Hamilton, hoping Mercedes will change their set-up for tomorrow’s race so he can at least try to get some performance out of the car . .

Tomorrow will be a struggle for the British driver, who has a solid track record. But his performance combined with Russell’s untimely incident shows us that the German marque has not been able to fully utilize its latest upgrades.