Explained: What led to Lewis Hamilton's compromised qualifying for the F1 US GP?

Lewis Hamilton recently had a poor sprint qualifying session at the 2024 F1 US GP where he only managed to secure P7. This was a result of a yellow flag, a slight on-track mistake, and an early exit onto a less grippy track.

At the beginning of the sprint qualifying, the British driver looked extremely quick around the Circuit of the Americas. He was able to clock the fastest lap and stay at the top for most of the session. He ended SQ1 in P2 after Ferrari's Charles Leclerc bagged the top spot. Even in SQ2, he was in third position, only behind Carlos Sainz and his 2021 rival, Max Verstappen.

The issues for Lewis Hamilton began in SQ3, and they came one after another at the multiple world championships. He along with his teammate George Russell and Williams driver Franco Colapinto were three drivers who came onto the track quite early in the session. During this time, the track was not ramped up and the grip was slightly low.

Furthermore, Colapinto, who was ahead of Hamilton, lost control of his car for a brief moment, bringing out the yellow flags in sector 2. This forced Hamilton to slow down slightly and lose valuable time on his flying lap. Finally, the Mercedes star accidentally made a slight mistake on Turn 12 due to a low grip.

After both Mercedes drivers entered the pits after clocking their fast laps, the rest of the top-10 grid came out and started putting much faster laps than Hamilton. This was because the track evolved over time and there was more grip due to the rubber that was laid down by other cars.

Hence, Lewis Hamilton, who was in second place, started tumbling down the order till P7, where he will now start the sprint race.

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Lewis Hamilton remains upbeat about Mercedes' progress despite poor sprint qualifying at the US GP

Though Lewis Hamilton had a poor sprint qualifying at the 2024 F1 US GP, he was grateful for Mercedes to have made a step forward in developement.

Speaking to F1.com after the session, he explained how he was unlucky with the yellow flag that ruined his SQ3 flying lap. He then praised the team for making the upgrades work. The seven-time world champion added that there was still hope to bounce back on Saturday.

“Just got unlucky with the yellow flag. It is what it is [and] I was 4 tenths up. The good thing is the team has made a step with the car, the upgrades have clearly worked. Really grateful to everyone back at the factory for all the hard work. It’s not the end of the day. Tomorrow we get another chance,” Hamilton said.

Lewis Hamilton is currently in sixth place in the drivers' championship with 174 points. He is chasing fifth-placed Carlos Sainz who has 190 points.