Lewis Hamilton’s struggles in 2024 during qualifying have been perplexing, to say the least. For a man who has over 100 pole positions in his illustrious career finds himself trailing 17-5 to Mercedes teammate George Russell in Grand Prix qualifying sessions this season. As speculations continue about why is he struggling, the 39-year-old has revealed the biggest issue he had with his W15 this weekend.
“The car felt different in Q3, and the stability was not there for some reason, but I’d had it in all the other sessions,” he said after only managing to qualify 10th. When asked if his unstable car has been his biggest issue, Hamilton replied,
“Yeah. It’d been really good up until then. And obviously, you saw my pace. And then since we got to Q3, it just started snapping away”.
However, he did not blame the balance of the W15 entirely for his disastrous qualifying performance in Las Vegas. The #44 driver acknowledged he could have done better and “ultimately” it was he who did not put the laps together when it mattered most.
#LasVegasGP | Lewis Hamilton post qualifying: “The car felt different in Q3, and the stability was not there for some reason, but I’d had it in all the other sessions. But ultimately I didn’t put the laps together.”
Asked whether it was an unstable rear that was his biggest… pic.twitter.com/MfO8rqcJlO
— deni (@fiagirly) November 23, 2024
Interestingly, despite Hamilton revealing his struggles with the W15, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff expects him to be able to “play for a win“. The Austrian’s optimism perhaps arises because Hamilton had indeed been one of the fastest drivers this weekend until he made a couple of mistakes during Q3 that cost him severely.
Hasn’t been working for Hamilton in 2024 when it matters
On various occasions throughout the 2024 season, Hamilton has looked strong during the practice sessions but when it matters most — qualifying and the race — he has struggled to deliver. A similar scenario played out at this weekend’s Las Vegas GP.
Hamilton topped the first two practice sessions and registered the fifth-fastest lap in FP3 but finished the slowest out of the top 10 in Q3. As a result of his poor performance, the 39-year-old admitted it “didn’t work when it mattered” and that he feels he should have been on pole.
#LasVegasGP | Lewis Hamilton post qualifying:
“Didn’t work when it mattered, but I tried, didn’t come off. I should’ve been on pole but… at least I’ve got pace which is a good showing of the weekend and that’s a positive to take away.”
“Not really [confident]. I think the… pic.twitter.com/aSQIGd4L9O
— deni (@fiagirly) November 23, 2024
He added that the win is out of the question for him and wished the best for Russell — who will start on pole — for the race on Saturday night. With only two race weekends remaining after Las Vegas, Hamilton will be desperate to rediscover some kind of form and finish his stint with Mercedes on a high.
