Hamilton Admits To Struggles After Q2 Elimination In Las Vegas

Saturday, 18 November 2023 at 14:00

Updated at Saturday, 18 November 2023 at 14:49

Lewis Hamilton described his feelings and expectations for the race after the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix Qualification.

The early Saturday qualifying session brought many surprises. One of them has been Lewis Hamilton, finishing just outside the top ten in 11th place.

The seven-time World Champion got pushed out of the top ten at the end of Q2 along with his main Championship rival Sergio Perez on Red Bull.

Hamilton's final qualifying position is pretty much a reflection of his Free Practice results as he finished in 12th, 9th, and 8th position. However, the Mercedes driver said he felt better during practice sessions.

"There are always differences. I just struggled. [During practice] I was feeling better, and I was more competitive. And then we made some changes overnight and it didn't feel great today."

Something similar happened to the Mercedes in Sao Paulo, where the team chose the wrong setup for the weekend, and both drivers suffered during races as a result. On the other hand, Hamilton is not negative in his outlook for the race.

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"So this car is a bit on a knife edge. The track is fun, but I'm sliding around a lot. But the race is going to be really interesting. A lot of work to do from 11th."

The big question for the weekend remains: how much tire wear will there be at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit? While it is not 100% clear, the 38-year-old expects higher degradation.

"We're all on low wings. So there's going to be a lot of degradation. There may even be more degradation than we know."

After a 10-place grid penalty gets applied to Carlos Sainz, Hamilton will gain one position at the start. The seven-time World Champion highlighted that nobody has used the hard compound tires so far and concluded:

"No one has driven the Hard tire yet. Max [Verstappen] has two Hards and two Mediums, we have one medium and two Hards. So it's going to be a long race, it's going to be about managing degradation."