Simply hours after Hamilton had delivered his finest results of the season as far as he completed second within the Shanghai dash, he got here crashing again to earth as he did not make it out of the primary session of qualifying.
Having braked too deep at Flip 14 due to the tailwind, Hamilton misplaced essential time and was knocked out as he ended up 18th on the grid.
Reflecting on what occurred, he stated the error was right down to him slightly than there being something incorrect with the automotive.
“I do not blame something on the group,” he stated. “I believe, not my finest qualifying laps.”
However whereas the rollercoaster of feelings from the highs of the morning to the lows of the afternoon was not simple to grasp, Hamilton stated it was nothing to be too frightened about.
“Shit occurs ,” he stated. “Generally you get it proper, generally you do not. This automotive is on a knife edge, as we all know, so it could actually simply do what we have had. However I am going to have some enjoyable from there.”
Reflecting on the progress of his Mercedes W15 this weekend, Hamilton stated that the group had elected to do one thing daring when parc ferme opened after the dash – though it appeared to haven’t paid off.
“We made large modifications going into qualifying,” he stated. “We simply needed to experiment. So George [Russell] determined to go a method, a lot completely different to what we had as a result of we labored just about with the identical earlier than.
“Then I went this different route simply to see if we are able to discover one thing. It did not really feel horrible. I simply could not cease the automotive in Flip 14.”
George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15
Photograph by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Russell performed down the variations between the automobiles, nevertheless, though he stated the step from the dash had been fairly dramatic.
“We’re fairly comparable on set-ups, and we each went in the same route,” he defined. “There was a small distinction however directionally very comparable between the 2 of us.
“We each made huge modifications from the dash race. And that’s: if we optimise all the pieces this weekend, possibly we might have completed P3, P4, P5, in qualifying. However we nonetheless would not be content material with that.
“We need to struggle for victories and championships, hopefully, the minimal subsequent yr, and generally you must sacrifice within the brief time period to make some larger features down the road.
“We’re nonetheless looking for the event path we have to be on to make some huge steps. And that is simply the place we’re for the time being.”
Russell made it by way of to Q3 and ended up eighth on the grid, having lamented needing to make use of an additional set of tyres in Q2 on account of Carlos Sainz’s crash.
“It was a little bit of a disgrace, Q2, as a result of my first lap was sturdy sufficient for P3 till the final nook when Carlos introduced the pink.
“Then you must use one other set of tyres, after which [you have] just one set in Q3. On the finish of the day, that is the place we’re for the time being as a group.
“In the event you nail it, you may be on the entrance of that group. In the event you’re on the again foot, you may be in the back of that group. And that is what we discovered ourselves throughout the final couple of races.”