Lewis Hamilton faced a challenging weekend as the Mercedes team struggled with mechanical failures during the 2024 United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas. This racetrack in Austin, Texas, known for its tricky layout and elevation changes, has historically been a strong campaign for Hamilton, yet this season he's had little luck here so far.
A front suspension failure was identified during the formation lap of the Sprint race, greatly affecting Hamilton's performance during the 19-lap race and preventing him from reaching his usual level of competitive success.
The front suspension issue persisted throughout the Sprint race, severely compromising the balance of Hamilton's W15.
"In the Sprint we had some sort of failure from the formation lap on the front suspension. I had that throughout the Sprint race," he said, via Sky Sports F1. "That made the balance really difficult," Hamilton explained. Although he managed to finish the Sprint race in sixth place, the overall experience left him frustrated and concerned about the vehicle's capabilities moving forward.
During the qualifying session, Hamilton's issues compounded, resulting in a disappointing 19th position on the grid.
"I should probably start in the pit lane, otherwise I won't be going anywhere from where I am," he said, contemplating a different setup that could potentially salvage some competitiveness for the Grand Prix.
In contrast, McLaren's Lando Norris excelled by taking pole position. Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz secured the second and third positions, respectively.
Mercedes has been grappling with the integration of new car upgrades, which have not shown the expected improvements so far. Hamilton's problems began early in the weekend, while teammate George Russell barely advanced to Q2, only to later crash in Q3, impacting several last laps, specifically Sergio Perez who was yet to set a time. He will start P10 tomorrow.
Despite some setup changes made in an attempt to rectify the issues, Hamilton found the car's performance in qualifying utterly disappointing.
"We changed a couple of things which pushed us in the direction in what we would have done yesterday. The car was a nightmare in qualifying," Hamilton admitted.
The team, known for its dominance during the hybrid engine era beginning in 2014, faced a stark contrast in performance come the ground effect regulation changes in 2022. Their difficulties reflected a broader pattern of challenges, as technical issues hampered their competitiveness amidst stiff competition from in-form teams like McLaren and Red Bull.
Mercedes will be pinning their hopes on a setup change ahead of the race, and this at least gives them a good opportunity to replace as much on the car as they can with little effect on the grid placement for the British driver. He'll be hoping for some luck tomorrow.
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