Mercedes had a forgettable US GP weekend in Austin, and it was hard to believe that this was the same team that had won three out of the four races before the summer break. George Russell crashed his car in qualifying whereas Lewis Hamilton spun out in the race. This has made things difficult from a parts perspective amid the ongoing triple-header.
Team Principal Toto Wolff highlighted that the damaged floor — part of Mercedes’ upgrade package in Austin — will have to be returned to Brackley for repairs. Thus, Hamilton and Russell won’t have the upgraded floor at the Mexican GP next weekend.
George Russell’s dramatic crash brought qualifying to an abrupt end #F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/RmPZ1jMat8
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 20, 2024
Per Motorsport, Wolff said, “Clearly we will be missing the [new] floor that needs to go back to the UK and be repaired for Brazil. So we will be running the spare specification.”
The Mercedes boss added that Hamilton would not be too happy about the same. “With Lewis, normally he would have all the parts but I’m not 100% sure that he’s keen on running that so we’re going to find out how we want to tackle [this] weekend.”
Hamilton showed promising pace on Friday and was also in the running for the sprint pole. However, Saturday morning, during the sprint race, the seven-time world champion started to struggle. While he had to settle outside the top five in the sprint, his Grand Prix qualifying gave him an even harder time.
Hamilton’s tough US GP
For the first time in Austin, Hamilton bowed out in Q1 and qualified 19th [17th after Russell and Liam Lawson’s grid penalties] for the Grand Prix. Predictably, it was going to be a long afternoon for the 39-year-old.
When the Grand Prix got underway, Hamilton got a mega start and gained five places to get up to P12. However, he spun out to beach his W15 in the gravel on lap five and that was game over for the Mercedes maestro. Hamilton was also startled to have had such a rare spin and it further underscored the issues with the car he had been facing since Saturday.
LAP 3/56
Hamilton into the gravel and out of the race ❌
That beached Mercedes will need moving and we have a Safety Car #F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/GunZRrSUIe
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 20, 2024
He said, “The car started bouncing on the way in and then it just lost all load off the rear and just went around on me. Definitely frustrating but I do know that it wasn’t that I wasn’t focused or anything. It’s just unfortunate.”
The Stevenage-born driver has been having a rough time ever since the resumption of the season after the summer break two months ago. However, having won twice with Mercedes so far this year, Hamilton would count on bouncing back in the remaining five races to end his stint with the Silver Arrows on a high.
