Hamilton 'Caught By Surprise' As He 'Never Spun Off In Race'

Tuesday, 22 October 2024 at 10:00

Hamilton explained what caused his mistake and followed DNF on lap 2 of the 2024 United States Grand Prix.

The weekend in Austin wasn't the best for the seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton. After finishing P6 in the Sprint Race, he was knocked out of Qualifying already in Q1, which meant he would have to start the Sunday race all the way from the back.

The Mercedes driver then had a very strong start to the race, gaining five positions on the opening lap, which put him into a much better spot. However, that didn't last for long.

On lap 2 of 56, Lewis Hamilton lost the rear of his car when entering turn number 19 and slid into the gravel, where he got stuck, and the race was over for him. Speaking to the media after the race, the 39-year-old explained what happened:

"I was really caught by surprise by this bouncing that I had, and obviously, I'm devastated. I mean, that's never happened before. A first for everything, I guess."

What was strange about the incident was that Hamilton wasn't even pushing too much as he had a tank full of fuel and also had to manage his tires so they lasted as long as possible.

Read also

Horner Hits Out At McLaren After Race In Austin: Could Have Been Two More Penalties

"I wasn't even really pushing at that point. The car just started bouncing, and Bono [race engineer Peter Bonnington] said I just got a 40kph tailwind, but the left wheel was bouncing up in the air, and then I lost the back end."

"We have three-wheeling sometimes, it's been an issue for us. I've just never had that happen before."

The seven-time World Champion's incident came at the exact same spot where George Russell also lost the rear of his car during the qualifying session.

"The same thing happened to George in qualifying on this new upgraded package that we worked so hard to to bring. He's obviously, fortunately, done a good job today, but he's got the old package on."

"It'll be interesting to see if there's learnings from it, but it's upsetting. I'm so sorry to all the team back at the factory; I've never spun off in a race, I don't think, before."