Lewis Hamilton reflected on a “shocking” and “terrible” early exit from Qualifying to leave him starting in 14th for the Dutch Grand Prix following a grid penalty.
Hamilton won two of the three races immediately before the summer break, triumphing at the British Grand Prix before inheriting victory in Belgium as Mercedes team-mate George Russell was disqualified for his car failing to meet minimum weight requirements.
But the seven-time world champion saw his hopes of continuing that success dented in Zandvoort on Saturday, with a mistake on Turn 13 during his final lap in Q2 leaving him outside the top 10.
Hamilton originally qualified in 12th but was given a three-grid place penalty for impeding Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in Q1, then Williams’ Alex Albon was disqualified for an illegal car.
The Briton says things went “from bad to worse” after the incident as he suffered his worst Qualifying result since coming 18th in China earlier in the campaign.
“It was a pretty shocking session,” he told Sky Sports F1: “These things happen and it’s done now but it definitely doesn’t feel good. It all went badly the moment the situation with Perez happened.
“I did my best to get out of the way, I was as far to the left as possible, but the timing was bad. It was a domino effect from that moment, it went from bad to worse.”
Hamilton added: “The balance got more and more snappy, more and more oversteery. It was terrible, very, very frustrating. That is kind of the weekend done and we move on to next week.”
Hamilton: My performance wasn’t there
The 39-year-old – who had topped the timesheets after the first runs in Q1 – also lamented Saturday’s third practice being disrupted, with the session shortened after Williams’ Logan Sargeant experienced a huge crash on the then-wet track.
Hamilton added: “The rain made it tricky in the morning to see what the balance was. With a dry P3 we may have done a better job of the set-up for Qualifying but performance wasn’t there from me.”
Hamilton had finished third in the only dry practice session of the weekend on Friday afternoon with team-mate Russell first.
*given three-grid place penalty and drops to 14th
**disqualified, so will start at the back
Wolff: Mercedes car ‘on a knife edge’
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who saw Russell qualify P4, behind pole sitter Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, said: “I think the car is on a knife edge.
“It is really difficult to get it right. When you have a bit of an overheating moment in a corner, it doesn’t recover. I think that made it very difficult for both drivers.
“You can say that going out in Q2 is really not good at all but also P4 is an underperformance to what we hoped and have seen in previous sessions.
“[A podium for Russell] needs to be the aim. Norris’ long run was also the best of all yesterday. If he stays ahead, he will probably disappear into the distance but we need to fight.”
Sky Sports F1’s live Dutch GP schedule
Sunday August 25
9.40am: F1 Academy: Race Two
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Dutch GP build-up
2pm: The DUTCH GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Dutch GP reaction
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