Lewis Hamilton is having a roller coaster of a Chinese GP. The Mercedes driver was on the front row for the sprint race on Saturday morning. However, when it came to Grand Prix qualifying, Hamilton made a costly mistake on his final run in Q1 and ended up only P18. According to Nico Rosberg, Hamilton could have avoided this mistake.
The error in question was at the turn 14 hairpin, where Hamilton braked too late and the tailwind sent him wide through the corner. Rosberg took a dig at his former rival, terming this as an unnecessary mistake.
As per Sky Sports F1’s live blog, Rosberg said,
“That is seriously painful. In 18th position is Lewis [Hamilton]. You know the wind is coming from the back there at that part of the track. He had a great lap until then. It was really unnecessary to push the limit and as a seven-time world champion that is a mistake which should be unavoidable.”
Hamilton was in a good position to make it to Q2. While both Mercedes cars were on the fringes of elimination, Russell and Hamilton knew they had enough pace to finish in the top 15 at-least. Russell managed to make it to the next session, but Hamilton lost 0.4 seconds in that costly turn 14 error.
Hamilton has had contrasting fortunes at the Shanghai International Circuit. 24 hours ago, Hamilton was showing his wet weather prowess to put his Mercedes W15 on the front row for the sprint race. Now, for the Grand Prix, he will line-up on the second-last row on the grid.
Lewis Hamilton’s roller coaster at the Chinese GP
Hamilton had his best start to a race weekend in 2024, where he finished P2 in Sprint qualifying and the subsequent race. Many, including Rosberg thought that Hamilton punched above his weight with his second placed finish because Mercedes wasn’t tipped to be so competitive heading into Shanghai.
Hamilton was in the lead of the Sprint race for a while before Max Verstappen swooped in to take the chequered flag first. Regardless, Hamilton must’ve been happy with his performance, considering how woeful his first four races of the year were.
After the race, he commented, “That’s the best result I’ve had in a long time so I’m super, super happy and grateful. Of course, we couldn’t fight the Red Bulls today, but this is a huge step, a huge improvement.”
Hamilton acknowledged that rain in the final part of sprint qualifying helped his cause to take P2 on the grid. And the absence of that ally from the heavens may have stung badly for the Briton in Grand Prix qualifying. His Q1 elimination has set up a tough Chinese GP race for the six-time winner in Shanghai.
Hamilton has his work cut out, and the Mercedes strategists (who are already under pressure) could have to come up with something special to help Hamilton charge up the field on Sunday.
