Lewis Hamilton telemetry reveals main reason behind shock Q1 exit in Austin

Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q1 at the US Grand Prix qualifying. The Mercedes driver suffered the consequences of a last-minute setup change due to a suspension failure prior to the Sprint race. Analysis of his telemetry data has revealed just how costly that suspension change was and what largely accounts for his shock elimination.

It has not been an easy weekend for Lewis Hamilton in qualifying. The Briton had the chance to fight for pole in Sprint qualifying, but yellow flags prevented him from completing what was expected to be a good SQ3 flying lap.

Lewis Hamilton telemetry analysis shows where time was lost in Austin Q1 exit

Looking ahead to the main race, Hamilton will start P18 ahead of Zhou Guanyu and a sanctioned Liam Lawson. The six-time US Grand Prix winner suffered the consequences of a forced suspension change after the Sprint race due to a suspected failure before the formation lap, as revealed by the driver himself to the media at the circuit, including PlanetF1.com.

The top speed data suggests that Mercedes have opted to fit a lower downforce setup for Hamilton after this suspension change and this, coupled with overheated tyres in qualifying after the twisty Sector 1, makes braking at Turn 12, for example, more difficult for the drivers.

After a poor first attempt at Q1 from both George Russell and Hamilton, both drivers were fighting for a place in Q2 in the closing stages. Russell climbed up to P4 with a lap time of 1:33.536, more than enough to make the cut and subsequently make it through to Q3 and finally into P6 in qualifying.

More analysis from the US Grand Prix at COTA

? Winners and losers from the 2024 US Grand Prix qualifying

? F1 starting grid: What is the grid order for the 2024 US Grand Prix?

Everything seemed to be going well for Hamilton in his final Q1 try, until he reached the end of Sector 2. Under braking at Turn 12, he braked later than his teammate but also suffered from a lot of understeer, which caused him to lose apex on the entry to the corner, going wide and having to correct to avoid exceeding the track limits and sacrificing the approach into Turn 13.

Just in Sector 2, Hamilton lost more than half a second to his teammate. This mistake easily cost him more than four tenths of a second in just a few metres.

Obviously, despite Hamilton’s sudden suspension change between the Sprint race and qualifying, this was a driving error and he should have made it through to Q2 without any problems.

However, it wasn’t just at Turn 12 that Hamilton suffered. Analysing the telemetry of the whole lap, it is clear that Hamilton was not at all comfortable with the W15. At other key points like Turns 8 and 9 or Turn 19, Russell was faster than his teammate.

The final time difference between the Q1 laps of the two Mercedes drivers was +0.618s. Hamilton had almost matched Russell’s Sector 1 time. And the time loss in Sector 3 was only evident at Turn 19 and no more than a tenth of a second.

Hamilton will start the race in P18 with an erratic car that has proven to suffer from high degradation on this circuit during the Sprint race.

He will have a very difficult race ahead where he will probably have to start with a different strategy trying to extend the first stint as much as possible to reach the points.

Read next: Lewis Hamilton shuts down ‘mental problem’ theory after shock COTA Q1 exit