Lewis Hamilton’s United States Grand Prix experience lasted just three laps.
Toto Wolff has described the crash that took Lewis Hamilton out of the United States Grand Prix on lap three as ‘100 per cent down to the car’. The legendary Brit spun out unprovoked at Turn 19 while following in the wake of the cars ahead.
Sunday was the crescendo of a miserable weekend for Hamilton, who missed an opportunity to take the sprint race pole before crossing the line sixth in the first race of the weekend. Later on Saturday, he was knocked out in Q1 for the first time ever at Austin following a mistake on his final lap.
Then, after gaining five positions on an immense opening lap, Hamilton made what appeared to be an uncharacteristic error, spinning out under his own power after losing the rears of his W15 on the third lap of the race.
According to team principal Wolff, however, this was not Hamilton’s mistake. “[It was] 100 per cent car. I think he was not even pushing at that stage. You’ve seen it yesterday with George [Russell].
“That was maybe over-pushing it but still, [it was] abrupt, losing it and putting it in the wall. And today in such a situation, there was wind and there was a little bit of dirty air from… we have definitely [got] an issue. I don’t know whether that was yesterday (Saturday) the same as today (Sunday). Definitely… Lewis Hamilton doesn’t lose a car on lap five like this.”
The correlation between his spin and Russell’s qualifying off was also picked up with Hamilton, who offered up some theories after stepping out of the cockpit. “In P1 I had the same thing,” he said. “I had the spin in Turn Three, which is so rare. I have never spun in Turn Three in all the years I’ve been here.
“I was just saying about George obviously having the same problem yesterday, he has gone back to the old-spec car and is looking good out there, so maybe there is something with the new upgrade.”
Delving deeper into the moment he crashed, Hamilton continued: “I wasn’t even pushing at that point. I was literally just trying to get going and bringing the tyres up to temperature. The car started bouncing, the left front started bouncing and the rear end just came round. It was the same as George yesterday.”
This weekend was a challenging one for Mercedes, but team-mate Russell at least managed to salvage some points for the team. The 26-year-old drove from the pit lane to sixth on the road, completing a memorable comeback drive at the Circuit of the Americas.
