Mercedes Tech Boss Reveals Why Hamilton Missed Pole in Monza: “Root of Lewis’ Frustrations Is…”

Mercedes Tech Boss Reveals Why Hamilton Missed Pole in Monza: “Root of Lewis’ Frustrations Is...”

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.

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.

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.

Post Edited By: Vidit Dhawan
Andrew Shovlin Italian GP Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

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Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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