Lewis Hamilton puts his recent struggles down to inconsistencies with the balance of his Mercedes after dropping out in Q2 for the second race in a row at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Las Vegas saw Hamilton failing to reach Q3 in qualifying and he looked to be off the pace of teammate George Russell for the majority of the weekend in Abu Dhabi before being eliminated in Q2 once again. Hamilton told his team over the radio that something was wrong with his car, and says he doesn’t have any confidence in how it will behave at each turn.
“It’s just very loose; the car’s unpredictable at every corner,” Hamilton said. “In one corner it’s one way, in another corner it’s another, and it’s not a consistent car or balance. No setup change I can make seems to get it right, and it’s a struggle just to get out of Q1.
“These last two races have been a disaster for me, particularly in qualifying. I’ve had two 11th places. It’s very rare, but it’s the last race, so…”
Hamilton revealed that his setup was the same as Russell’s and, with the other car qualifying on the second row, he believes something fundamental is wrong but is now focused on trying to hold off Ferrari for second place in the constructors’ standings.