Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Lewis Hamilton (44) during the Las Vegas Grand Prix at Las Vegas Speedway.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has admitted that the puncture on his W15 F1 car during the Qatar GP was likely caused by his own front wing adjustment, rather than a shard from Alex Albon’s side mirror. After the disappointing finish P12 and two fines, Hamilton took responsibility for his mistakes and admitted that the termination of the season at a high level with Mercedes was no longer achievable.
Given his Ferrari switch in 2025, the seven -time world champion planned to get the best result of the Mercedes race in the final races and end the season on a positive note. However, ongoing issues with his W15 F1 car will likely keep him out of the season finale in Abu Dhabi this weekend.
Speaking of the Qatar Grand Prix, the Briton received a five-second penalty for a false start and then was driven through in the final stages for speeding in the pit lane under the safety car. The second penalty was a major blow as it prevented him from finishing in the points. The penalty dropped him to the bottom of the points table, but Hamilton managed to recover and finish in 12th place. A dejected Hamilton wanted to retire from the race after serving a pit lane penalty, but the team asked him to stay on. To add to his problems, he suffered a front-left tyre puncture on lap 34 of 57. Considering the difficulties, Hamilton acknowledged that it “could have been a lot worse.” He said:
“It could have been a lot worse, but we did it and it’s over.
“I was like that at the beginning too. And indeed the puncture failed, and then I was in the pit lane too. “I’ll do as much as possible, but I’ll go back tomorrow and hit again.”
The two Mercedes drivers complained that the turning point of the car was strong and inadequate according to Hamilton. He continued:
“We didn’t get the wings correctly.
“It\’s happened many times. Yeah, just basically not having enough front wing in the car, and the car just wouldn\’t turn. “So I had bad understeer for a long time and, to be honest, for me, that’s what led to the tyre failure. Maybe it was trash. Honestly, I didn’t see any trash, but it’s still not ideal. It happened just as I reached the pit lane entrance.”
Indeed, the 39-year-old doesn’t think the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be all that different from recent races, which he admits have been “a rollercoaster of emotions.” He declared:
“I don’t think we’re going to end up in a difficult situation.
“It’s going to end at some point and I think the important thing is how to get there and we’re going to do our best. “I don’t expect it to be a particularly better weekend than previous ones, but of course we’ll try. We’ll have low expectations and maybe we’ll do better. It won’t make much difference either way.” “It’s been a real whirlwind of emotions and I’m just grateful to be still standing and doing well. I’ve had some great races in my life and I’ve had some bad races in my life. There’s not much bad stuff.
