Lewis Hamilton mirrored on a “shocking” and “terrible” early exit from Qualifying as he ended up in P12 for the Dutch Grand Prix.
Hamilton received two of the three races instantly earlier than the summer season break, triumphing on the British Grand Prix earlier than inheriting victory in Belgium as Mercedes team-mate George Russell was disqualified for his automotive failing to fulfill minimal weight necessities.
However the seven-time world champion noticed his hopes of constant that success dented in Zandvoort on Saturday, with a mistake on Flip 13 throughout his closing lap in Q2 leaving him exterior the highest 10.
Hamilton can be dealing with a stewards’ investigation into whether or not he impeded Purple Bull’s Sergio Perez in Q1, with the Briton saying issues went “from bad to worse” after the incident as he suffered his worst Qualifying end result since coming 18th in China earlier within the marketing campaign.
“It was a pretty shocking session,” he stated: “This stuff occur and it is achieved now however it positively does not really feel good. All of it went badly the second the state of affairs with Perez occurred.
Hamilton: My efficiency wasn’t there
“I did my best to get out of the way, I was as far to the left as possible, but the timing was bad. It was a domino effect from that moment, it went from bad to worse.”
Hamilton added: “The balance got more and more snappy, more and more oversteery. It was terrible, very, very frustrating. That is kind of the weekend done and we move on to next week.”
Please use Chrome browser for a extra accessible video participant
Watch Qualifying highlights from the Dutch Grand Prix as Lando Norris snatched pole place from Max Verstappen
The 39-year-old – who had topped the timesheets after the primary runs in Q1 – additionally lamented Saturday’s third follow being disrupted, with the session shortened after Williams’ Logan Sargeant skilled an enormous crash on the then-wet observe.
Hamilton added: “The rain made it tricky in the morning to see what the balance was. With a dry P3 we may have done a better job of the set-up for Qualifying but performance wasn’t there from me.”
Hamilton had completed third in the one dry follow session of the weekend on Friday afternoon with team-mate Russell first.
Wolff: Mercedes automotive ‘on a knife edge’
Mercedes staff principal Toto Wolff, who noticed Russell qualify P4, behind pole sitter Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, stated: “I think the car is on a knife edge.
“It’s actually troublesome to get it proper. When you may have a little bit of an overheating second in a nook, it does not get well. I feel that made it very troublesome for each drivers.
“You can say that going out in Q2 is really not good at all but also P4 is an underperformance to what we hoped and have seen in previous sessions.
“[A podium for Russell] must be the purpose. Norris’ long term was additionally one of the best of all yesterday. If he stays forward, he’ll in all probability disappear into the gap however we have to struggle.”
Sky Sports activities F1’s reside Dutch GP schedule
Please use Chrome browser for a extra accessible video participant
Forward of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, we glance again at Max Verstappen’s three consecutive wins round Zandvoort
Sunday August 25
9.40am: F1 Academy: Race Two
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Dutch GP build-up
2pm: The DUTCH GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Dutch GP response
Please use Chrome browser for a extra accessible video participant
Sky Sports activities simply bought even higher, bringing you over 50 per cent extra sport this yr at no further value
Sky Sports activities+ has formally launched and might be built-in into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports activities app, giving Sky Sports activities prospects entry to over 50 per cent extra reside sport this yr at no further value. Discover out extra right here.
