Hamilton offers US GP proposal to Mercedes after 'nightmare' qualifying

Lewis Hamilton has hinted a pit lane start will be likely for the United States Grand Prix following his difficult qualifying outing.

The seven-time world champion endured a nightmare session and ended the opening Q1 segment in 19th place.

It marks his worst-ever qualifying result at the Circuit of the Americas, a track he has taken pole position at three times during his career.

Hamilton revealed he suffered a failure on his formation lap before the start of the sprint race, which derailed the remainder of his day.

“We had some sort of failure from the formation lap from the front suspension, I had that throughout the sprint race,” Hamilton told Sky F1.

“That made the balance really difficult, we did some changes to push us in the right direction of what we would have done yesterday.

“The car was a nightmare today.”

Cars entered parc fermé conditions after the start of qualifying, meaning any changes to the car now will result in a penalty.

However, with Hamilton due to start the race from towards the back of the grid regardless, Mercedes can elect to tweak the set-up to its liking and even fit a new power unit in order to provide Hamilton with a pace advantage for the grand prix.

“I should probably start from the pit lane otherwise I won't be going anywhere with where I am,” Hamilton highlighted.

“It's just a very inconsistent balance and no grip.”