Lewis Hamilton has claimed that the disruption caused by yellow flags in qualifying cost him pole position for the Saturday sprint race at the US Grand Prix. The British driver will start the 19-lap dash back in seventh on the grid, between the Haas duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen.
It was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who took pole, finishing just 0.012 seconds ahead of Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate George Russell.
But Hamilton appeared to be flying on the opening sector of SQ3, only to be scuppered by Franco Colapinto spinning at Turn 12. At the time he was running almost half a second quicker than Russell, who was out on the track at the same time.
The seven-time world champion cut a despondent figure afterwards, and was in no doubt as to where the blame lay for his disappointing showing. “I just got unlucky with the yellow flag,” he said. “And that’s what it is. I was four tenths up, but anyhow, it is what it is.”
However, the 39-year-old did also claim to be happy with the work done on the W15 cars, after both he and Russell had struggled in FP1 at the Circuit of the Americas. And he still retains hope of a positive showing over the weekend
Hamilton added: “The good thing is the team has made a step with the car, the upgrade has clearly worked and I’m really grateful to everyone back at the factory for all the hard work over this period of time. It’s been a tough slog for everyone to get the upgrade and to make sure that they’re working.
“Tomorrow we get another chance. We did a great job in between the sessions to make changes to the car. It’s always a bit of a gamble because you don’t know whether or not it’s going to work, the changes that you make, but you hope they do what you aim to do with them.”
Hamilton lies sixth in the standings, just 19 points clear of Russell. The sprint race is worth eight points for a win, seven for second, with the sequence continuing down to one point for eighth place.
The veteran is still seeking his maiden win in the shortened format since the controversial notion was introduced in 2021. Verstappen has thus far dominated, winning 10 of the 15 sprint races to have taken place, including all three in 2024 in China, Austria, and Miami.
Hamilton is into the final six races of his 12-year stint with the Silver Arrows, which has yielded six of his seven drivers’ titles. The British icon will then leave for Ferrari, having signed a lucrative two-year deal with the Scuderia.
