Hamilton hit with ‘domino effect’ after making ‘wrong call’

Lewis Hamilton has taken responsibility for a decision that "domino affected" his performance in qualifying for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

The 39-year-old will line up a disappointing P10 for the race in Nevada, having shown strong form up until Q3. Meanwhile, Mercedes team-mate George Russell secured pole.

Hamilton topped the opening two practice sessions of the weekend and had comfortably reached the final part of qualifying.

However, a mistake on his first timed run left him on the back foot, something he ultimately could not recover from.

"I just didn't do the job," the 105-time grand prix winner told media including RacingNews365 before describing how his W15 changed heading into the final 12 minutes of qualifying.

"The car felt different in Q3 and the stability was not there for some reason - I'd had it in all the other sessions," he explained. "But ultimately, I just didn't put the laps together.

"The tyres were difficult. That's why we did a prep lap, and that was the wrong call to do a prep lap on my side, and then it kind of domino affected from there."

Silver lining for the silver arrows

Mercedes' form at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit has mystified the team, with both drivers at a loss to put their finger on why. For Hamilton, it is a stark contrast to his fortunes in the previous round, the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The trip to Nevada is an outlier on the F1 calendar with low temperatures providing brake and tyre-warming hurdles for the teams to overcome. It has, however, worked in the Brackley-based team's favour.

"We don't know why we're fast this weekend," the seven-time F1 drivers' champion said. "It must be something to do with temperatures."

Addressing his mistake, he added: "It had been really good up until then, and obviously you saw my pace, and then, since we got to Q3 it just started snapping away."

Nevertheless, Hamilton was set on drawing the positives from the weekend so far, contesting the suggestion the qualifying result was a "stinger" for him to bear. 

"Not really, the car feels great, to be honest," he replied. "I wish I was on pole, George is on pole, it's great for the team. It's not a stinger. Move forwards.

"I've got three shots, three pops at it, two more pops in the next races and see how that goes. The good thing is I've got pace."