Lewis Hamilton was left to reflect on a frustrating qualifying session under the Las Vegas lights, where errors induced by a lack of stability of his Mercedes W15 left him a lowly 10th in the pecking order.
The seven-time world champion was earmarked as a strong contender for pole after leading the field in free practice along with his teammate George Russell.
But while the latter flew to pole position in the final shootout of qualifying, key mistakes by Hamilton – a lock-up at Turn 14 on his first Q3 lap and losing the rear through the sweeping Turn 3 on his final run – derailed his chances.
“The car felt different in Q3, and the stability was not there for some reason, but I’d had it in all the other sessions. But ultimately I didn’t put the laps together,” commented Hamilton at the end of the grid-defining session.
Hamilton cited an unstable rear end as his main issue in Q3, a stark contrast to his earlier sessions.
“Yeah. It’d been really good up until then,” he said. “And obviously you saw my pace. And then since we got to Q3, it just started snapping away.”
Sudden unpredictability has been a recurring theme for Mercedes throughout the season, and it has been particularly punishing in qualifying.
Just as he struggled to understand why Mercedes pace was so strong in free practice this weekend, Hamilton was hard pressed to explain his W15’s sudden shift in behaviour, although he reckons that tyres are the culprit.
©Mercedes
“I think, we think, it’s tyres,” he said. “But I mean, we don’t know why we’re fast as we can. It must be something to do with temperatures. The tyres were difficult.
“That’s why we did a prep lap and I think that was the wrong call to do a prep lap on my side. And then it kind of domino effected from there.”
Despite a result that left him well outside the front-row battle, Hamilton maintained a positive outlook. With three races remaining this season, including two after Las Vegas, he emphasized his belief in his underlying pace and his determination to recover in Sunday’s race.
Asked if the result felt particularly painful given his earlier form, Hamilton shrugged off the suggestion.
“Not really. I feel great, to be honest,” he replied. “I wish I was on pole. George is on pole. It’s great for the team. It’s not a stinger. I’ll move forwards.
“I’ve got three shots. Three pops in it. Two more pops in the next races and we’ll see how it goes. The good thing is I’ve got pace.”
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