How fortunes can change in the space of only a few hours.
On Saturday morning there was a smile the size of the Huangpu etched across Lewis Hamilton’s face after he claimed second in the first sprint race of the season in Shanghai. A moment of sweet relief amidst a season of setbacks for Mercedes and Hamilton.
A short while later and Hamilton was still, somehow, able to muster a grin.
But this time his expression did not tell the full story of what had just unfolded in qualifying for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix as Hamilton failed to make it out of Q1 for the first time since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2022.
The finger of blame cannot be pointed solely at the car for Hamilton’s showing. Not this time.
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Lewis Hamilton will start the Chinese Grand Prix in 18th place after struggling in qualifying
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Hamilton failed to make it out of Q1 for the first time since Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2022
Instead it was driver error that sees Hamilton start a race he has won more times than any other driver from 18th. Yes, do not adjust your TV sets. 18th.
Toto Wolff’s reaction told the full story. Mercedes’ team boss sank back into his chair and gazed into the heavens after watching what had unfolded.
On his final opportunity to make it into Q2 and with the wind swirling around the twisting corners and long straights of this circuit, Hamilton overshot it at the hairpin turn 14.
That misjudgement proved to be a fatal one. And with that, the seven-time world champion’s day was over.
‘I couldn’t make it around 14. I lost it at 14,’ said Hamilton, who has now failed to qualify inside the top six in the last eight races.
‘We made massive changes going into qualifying, we wanted to experiment. George decided to go one way, much different to what we had because we both had pretty much the same before.
‘I went this other direction just to see if we could find something. It didn’t feel terrible but I just couldn’t stop the car at 14.
‘When I was making the setup changes, I was like “it can’t get any worse, surely”… and it did. S*** happens.’
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Max Verstappen was able to secure pole position after following up his sprint race victory
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Lando Norris struggled in the sprint race but he was able to secure fourth spot on the grid
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The first Chinese driver to have the grand prix as his home race – Zhou Guanyu – struggled despite support from the crowd
Hamilton may have been able to brush off his mishap but it was a blunder which drew strong criticism from former team-mate and Sky Sports commentator Nico Rosberg.
The German, who shared a frosty relationship with Hamilton when they occupied the Mercedes garage together, didn’t hold back with his assessment of Hamilton’s performance.
‘That is seriously painful,’ said former world champion Rosberg. ‘He had a great lap until then. It was really unnecessary to push the limit and as a seven-time world champion that is a mistake which should be avoidable.
‘It’s three metres too late and he had the brake balance too far forward. He lost at least four tenths which easily would have put him in Q2. That’s a disaster.’
When asked about those comments, Hamilton replied: ‘I don’t blame anything on the team. It wasn’t one of my best qualifying laps.
‘S*** happens you know, sometimes you get it right, sometimes you get it wrong. This car is on a knife-edge, as you know, so it can easily do what we had. But I’ll have some fun with it.’
At the front of the pack, it was business as usual for Max Verstappen who followed up his sprint race victory earlier in the day by claiming pole for Sunday’s race.
The Red Bull driver was head and shoulders above the rest of the field, finishing three tenths of a second ahead of closest rival and team-mate Sergio Perez, who secured a front row lock-out for the Austrian team.
Verstappen’s first pole in China was his team’s 100th in the sport and saw the Dutchman become the only the fifth driver to claim pole in the opening five races of the season and the first since Mika Hakkinen did so in 1999.
‘After the sprint race, it gave us a few more ideas for the car and I think the car worked even better in qualifying,’ said Verstappen.
‘Definitely very happy with how the whole of qualifying went. The car was really nice to drive and also in Q3, that final lap felt pretty decent.
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Former world champion Nico Rosberg says Hamilton’s qualifying performance was a disaster
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Carlos Sainz spun out during Q2 and brought qualifying to a halt under a red flag on Saturday
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Miraculously the driver could continue the session despite the need for repairs, but could only climb as high as seventh
‘I’m also very happy to drive here in the dry. The conditions were pretty good, so it was a lot of fun.’
Carlos Sainz recovered from a spectacular crash in Q2 to make it through to the final qualifying session but could only post the seventh-quickest time, meaning he will start one place behind team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Lando Norris led the charge for the Brits, bouncing back from a disastrous display in the sprint race, where he had dropped from first to seventh by the second corner, to secure fourth spot on the grid.
George Russell also made it into Q3 but will have to work his way through the pack as he starts eighth. What his team-mate Hamilton would give for that starting position, though, given the arduous assignment which lies ahead for him on Sunday.
