Lewis Hamilton moaned to Mercedes mechanics in a team radio message after he was knocked out of qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix. The Silver Arrows driver was unable to progress to the final shootout after struggling in Q2.
The British star could only manage P13 as team-mate George Russell sneaked into the top 10. Moments after being knocked out of qualifying, Hamilton questioned the decision of his own Mercedes engineers.
Speaking over team radio, he said: “We left that way too late guys.” Hamilton was slower than Russell’s cut-off time by just two-tenths of a second with analysis revealing most of the time was lost in sector one and two.
It means Hamilton will start behind Nico Hulkenberg and Alex Albon for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Sky Sports F1 reporter Ted Kravitz shared fresh details on the Briton’s comments as the Mercedes star returned to the pits.
He commented: “To explain what he meant by ‘we left it too late guys’. He means we understand that he feels the team left it too late to send him out of the garage.
“He found himself in traffic, it wasn’t a clean out lap and that compromised his tyre preparation for his fast lap. That was enough to see him out by a couple of tenths.”
Hamilton found it difficult through the first few corners of the lap as he continued to fight for grip. Mercedes had struggled all weekend and looked under threat in Q1 until the dying seconds.
Hamilton was hit with an early blow after striking the wall in a bid to avoid Kevin Magnussen’s Haas which was going slowly in the braking zone. The near-miss was investigated by the stewards who decided no further action needed to be taken.
Hamilton had suggested Mercedes were in for a difficult weekend after practice on Friday. He explained: “We’re not particularly quick and it’s a struggle out there.
“We’re trying lots of different things. P1 looked quite good and then to come into P2 and the true pace came out – it’s a kick in the guts.
“It’s difficult to take sometimes but it’s OK, we’ll keep on working on it and we’ll regroup tonight and see if we can make some set-up changes and get the car in a sweeter spot.”
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