Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton will start tomorrow's Grand Prix of Europe from tenth place on the grid after crashing out of Q3.
Despite having been on top of all three practice sessions coming into the qualifying session on Saturday afternoon, he struggled from the start to put together a mistake-free lap and later admitted that he just hadn't been on it.
Hamilton had come close to being eliminated in Q2 when his first run was thwarted by Nico Hulkenberg spinning just ahead of him. However he was able to manage to find enough speed to get him through to Q3 seconds before before the chequered flag.
However his first lap in the pole shoot-out final round was thwarted when he overshot the approach into turn 15. On his next attempt, Hamilton clipped the wall in turn 11 and broke his right front suspension. Hamilton had no choice but to park the damaged Mercedes beside the barriers, triggering a red flag with two minutes remaining in the session.
"I'm out of the session," he sighed over the team radio before climbing out.
When he arrived back in pit lane he was still wearing his helmet, a sure-fire sign of not wanting to speak to anyone However a few minutes later he braved the press and admitted that he had not been able to find the same groove on Saturday that he had enjoyed on Friday.
"Just a rough session, one of those things you don't need but they happen, "he said. "The car was generally good but I just wasn't in it today."
"I had a fantastic rhythm yesterday but zero today," he signed. "Sometimes it happens.
"I don’t think Baku bit me. I think that I tried to take too much and I tried to bite it and it didn’t work. It is more me. It is nothing to do with the track. Nothing to do with the team, just not driving well today.
"I can't really say yet what possibilities there are [for tomorrow's race] but obviously I have to try and get up as high as possible tomorrow. It is damage limitation from here and I will do what I can."
Hamilton dismissed suggestions that late sunshine had changed track conditions and contributed to his accident, insisting "it was just me".
"I was just not getting the groove – one corner was good, one corner was bad. It was the most uncomfortable I have been in the car for a long, long time."
Asked if he had changed any settings on the car overnight which might account for the difference in his fortunes between the two days, Hamilton initially answered no, before adding: "The team made a change to something overnight but I was just not on it today.
“I can’t really express or understand it exactly," he added. "It was not the same today. But, still, I will do what I can with it tomorrow, and try and recover.
"Yesterday was really a nice day, so if I can back to there then I will be in a good position for tomorrow. Try to get away from the hustle and bustle here as early as possible, get a good night’s sleep, and then come back tomorrow and try and pick it up."
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