Lewis Hamilton described his Mercedes Formula 1 car as a “nightmare” after a disappointing qualifying session at the United States Grand Prix on Saturday, Afrosport reports.
The seven-time world champion has a strong record at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) where he has claimed pole position three times and race wins a record five times.
He however qualified for Sunday’s race in a disappointing 19th after locking up his tyres under breaking which forced him wide off the track, making it his worst-ever qualifying performance at COTA and his worst in 2024.
After the session, Hamilton revealed he had issues from the earlier sprint race in which he finished sixth, and had to change the setup of his Mercedes W15 car.
“In the sprint, we had some sort of failure from the formation lap on the front suspension and had that throughout the sprint race,” the 39-year-old said per Crash.net.
“That made the balance really difficult. We did change a couple of things. It pushed us in the direction of what we would have done yesterday. The car was a nightmare in qualifying.”
That’s only the fourth time Lewis Hamilton has qualified P19 in this career
Monaco 2009
Italy 2022
Azerbaijan 2024
United States 2024 #F1 #USGP— Formula 1 (@F1) October 19, 2024
Hamilton will start 18th in the race as Racing Bulls’ (RB) Liam Lawson will start at the back of the grid after incurring penalties for taking a new power unit. Hamilton however revealed he might start from the pit lane in order to make further set-up changes to his car.
“I should probably start from the pit lane, otherwise I won’t be going anywhere. It’s just a very inconsistent balance and no grip,” he added.
Meanwhile, McLaren’s Lando Norris will start from pole position ahead of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr.
