Hamilton thought he would play for pole in Austin, “I had a four-tenths lead”

Driver number 44 believes yellow flags deprived him of pole position in sprint qualifying in Austin

Could Lewis Hamilton have taken pole position in sprint qualifying for the United States Grand Prix? The seven-time World Champion is convinced of this, unfortunately for him, he was hampered by a yellow flag during his only fast lap.

After completing a rather lackluster free practice session (P6), Lewis Hamilton set a much more impressive pace during the sprint qualifying. During SQ3, the two Mercedes drivers quickly took to the track, accompanied by Franco Colapinto and his Williams.

During his only fast lap, Lewis Hamilton had to slow down, the fault of the yellow flag waving in the second sector.

« I had no luck with the yellow flag”Hamilton said. “That’s how it is. I had a four-tenths lead (over his teammate).”

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The seven-time world champion therefore took his foot off the gas and finally qualified seventh, more than half a second behind the time of pole-sitter, Max Verstappen. For his part, George Russell finished second, just 0.012 seconds behind the Red Bull.

Mercedes on the right track?

However, Lewis Hamilton is not defeatist and prefers to see the positive.

“The good thing is that the team has taken a step forward with the car. The improvements have clearly worked and I’m really grateful to everyone at the factory for all the work they’ve done over this time, as it’s been hard work for everyone to get the improvements done and ensure that they work. This is not the end, tomorrow we will have another chance.”

Lewis Hamilton will therefore start from seventh place on the starting grid for the sprint race. His garage neighbor, George Russell will start from the second mark, alongside Max Verstappen. Then on the night of Saturday to Sunday, the seven-time F1 World Champion will have a second chance to put his Mercedes at the top of the timesheet, this time for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Read also: Sprint Qualifying – Verstappen back to business, Pérez and Piastri disappoint