Lewis Hamilton was frustrated with himself after he only managed to qualify in P6 for the Italian Grand Prix. After the session, he slammed himself and even expressed concerns over his Qualifying form. The Silver Arrows’ trackside engineering chief Andrew Shovlin has now revealed where the British driver lost time on track.
The top six times in qualifying for the Italian GP last weekend was one of the closest the season has seen so far. Hamilton and pole-sitter Lando Norris were only separated by less than two-tenths of a second after their final Q3 flying laps.
Hamilton‘s teammate George Russell placed three places above the #44 driver in third. Shovlin revealed that the time delta between the Mercedes drivers was the most apparent in the final sector of the circuit. The British engineer explained how Hamilton lost a chunk of lap time in the Parabolica corner.
#ItalianGP | Lewis Hamilton when asked why he’s not been able to get everything out of the car: “Because I’m not very good. Simple as that, I’m not very good at qualifying.”
“I can’t put a lap together. It’s unbelievably frustrating.” pic.twitter.com/ocaOKTKBKX
— deni (@fiagirly) August 31, 2024
Shovlin said on Mercedes’ YouTube channel, “The root of Lewis’ frustrations is evident when you look at the GPS data.” Going into the Parabolica, Hamilton’s W15 was only half-a-tenth away from Norris’ pole-setting time. However, Hamilton failed to finish the lap well.
“Had it not been for that, he could’ve easily been on the front row if not challenging for pole,” Shovlin added. Hamilton was left fuming after the result. He went as far as saying that the team deserved better than what he was offering and that maybe they would get that next year when he leaves and Andrea Kimi Antonelli joins the Silver Arrows.
Hamilton redeemed himself during the Italian GP
He redeemed himself after a decent fifth-place finish in Monza. He could have fought for fourth, had Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz not managed to execute a fantastic one-stop strategy to distance himself from the man who would be replacing him at the Prancing Horse next season.
#ItalianGP | Lewis Hamilton post qualifying: “I’m furious. I could’ve been pole (…) I just couldn’t do the job at the end.”
“The team deserves better, maybe they’ll get that with Kimi.” pic.twitter.com/gm8I2XgE0r
— deni (@fiagirly) August 31, 2024
On the other hand, Russell had a dismal outing. A lap one incident with Oscar Piastri meant the Briton’s race was ruined by front wing damage and an early pitstop. The #63 driver eventually finished the race in seventh, 17 seconds behind Hamilton.
