Lewis Hamilton’s qualifying undone by suspension issue at F1 United States GP

Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton saw his qualifying session cut short due to a suspension issue on his W15

AUSTIN — In his own words, his car “felt great” on Friday.

Saturday, however, was a different story for Lewis Hamilton.

The Mercedes driver and seven-time champion was shockingly eliminated in Q1 Saturday at the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, and will start Sunday’s main event at the back of the field. Speaking with the media, including SB Nation, following qualifying Hamilton pointed to a suspension issue that began right before the start of the F1 Sprint Race earlier in the day, where Hamilton finished sixth.

“The car felt great yesterday,” said Hamilton after qualifying. “So obviously, really optimistic for today and something failed on the front suspension literally as we pulled away from the line for the formation lap, and I had that through the race.”

While the team made repairs to the car following the F1 Sprint Race to try and fix the issue, Hamilton conceded that the W15 “felt like a mess” during qualifying.

“So when we figured that out, they changed the corner, and didn’t feel different, just felt like a mess honestly.”

After praising the team for making the change, and noting that the team is “working as hard as they can,” Hamilton was asked what is realistic for him in Sunday’s United States Grand Prix.

“Not a lot, really,” was his brutally honest answer.

With that, the seven-time champion was off, left to wonder what could have been on a Saturday afternoon in Austin.