Hamilton blames "large gust of wind" and upgrade for spin into the gravel trap
On the back of a very difficult race weekend in Texas, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton indicated that windy conditions and the upgrade package might have contributed to the spin he and his team-mate George Russell suffered in the race and in the main qualifying session, respectively.
Mercedes endured a catastrophic qualifying on Saturday, with Lewis Hamilton failing to make it out of Q1 and his team-mate George Russell losing control of his W15 and crashing into the barriers on his final push lap.
With Mercedes mechanics forced to revert to the Singapore-spec aero kit on Russell's car, the team was found in breach of the sporting regulations which meant that the Briton was required to start from the pit lane.
The two-time F1 race winner made a long first stint on the hards work well and managed to overtake Perez late on to finish sixth, collecting some vital points both for himself and his team.
Reflecting on his race, Russell noted that he "was pleased with how today went from my side. We didn’t know what the race would bring in terms of opportunities but going from the pit lane to P6, and finishing ahead of Red Bull, meant that we made the best of a difficult situation.
"We had good pace throughout, in particular on the Hard compound tyre. We were able to extend that first stint and give ourselves fresher rubber with which to attack in the closing laps.
Pinpointing the issue with the W15, Russell said that the Brackley-based outfit often struggles to find the sweet spot with the setup: "We will work hard in the coming days to analyse the weekend as a whole. The car can still be tricky at times; Lewis doesn’t end races in the gravel as we saw today. When we find its sweet spot, it is capable of strong performances but that is difficult to deliver consistently.
"I think the car had the potential to fight for the podium this weekend, but we need to widen its operating window. We will therefore be looking to bounce back next weekend in Mexico."
Following his tough qualifying session, Hamilton had a great start that had lifted him to P12. However, approaching the penultimate corner, the Briton lost the rear by himself and got beached in the gravel.
Mercedes team boss Wolff indicated a car issue rather than driver error was to blame. Hamilton himself insisted that a gust of wind may have contributed to the spin, but he also suggested that the comprehensive upgrade package Mercedes introduced at Austin could have also played a part in unsettling the W15's balance.
"I had a great start, and I thought we were in for a positive race. I was just bringing the tyres in when I had the accident, which was a really strange moment. I wasn’t pushing too hard but the car bounced a little into turn 19, I lost the back end and that was that.
"We measured a large gust of wind, up to 40 kph, as I turned in which likely didn’t help. George had a similar spin to me yesterday so we will work hard to analyse both incidents and see what we can learn from them.
"I am sorry to the whole team who have worked so hard to bring these updates but onwards and upwards from here. Hopefully we can get the car in a better place for next week in Mexico. We will all be working incredibly hard to do so," concluded Hamilton.
