Lewis Hamilton expressed disappointment following the “unlucky” timing of a yellow flag that cost him the Sprint qualifying pole position at the United States Grand Prix. Hamilton showed impressive speed, initially setting the fastest first sector and leading over his Mercedes teammate, George Russell, by four tenths at that stage.
However, his momentum was hindered in the second sector after an error at Turn 12, caused by yellow flags alerting him to Williams driver Franco Colapinto’s off-track incident. This setback resulted in Hamilton qualifying seventh, falling more than half a second behind pole position holder Max Verstappen, while Russell secured second place, just 0.012 seconds shy of the top spot.
“I just got unlucky with the yellow flag,” Hamilton explained. “It is what it is. I was four tenths up.” When asked if the missed pole position felt like a lost opportunity, he acknowledged it but highlighted the positive step forward for the team: “The good thing is that the team has made a step with the car.”
Mercedes had a promising start to the season with three wins out of four before the summer break, but their performance dipped post-resumption, with Russell’s podium in Azerbaijan being their only top-three finish in the last four races.
Hamilton credited the upgrades brought to Austin — including improvements to the W15’s front wing, front suspension, and floor — for the team’s potential resurgence. “The upgrade has clearly worked, and I’m really grateful to everyone back at the factory for their hard work during this tough period,” he stated. “It’s not the end of the day; tomorrow we’ve got another chance.”
The impressive performance by Mercedes came despite the Sprint format allowing only 60 minutes of practice before the competitive sessions began. Hamilton noted, “We did a great job between sessions to make changes to the car. It’s always a gamble because you don’t know if the changes will work, but as soon as I got out in the car, it was like night and day different.”
Upcoming Schedule for the United States Grand Prix
Saturday, October 19
6pm: United States GP Sprint build-up
7pm: United States GP Sprint
8.30pm: Sprint Notebook
10pm: United States GP Qualifying build-up
11pm: United States GP Qualifying
(Sunday) 1am: Qualifying Notebook
Sunday, October 20
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: United States GP build-up
8pm: THE UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX
10pm: Chequered Flag: United States GP reaction
11pm: Ted’s Notebook
Watch the entire United States GP Sprint weekend live on ECNETNews.
