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Lewis Hamilton saw his final flying lap in the Sprint Qualifying 3 get jeopardized after the Mercedes man saw a yellow flag during his final flying lap. This was not the first time that the seven-time world champion suffered from this issue that ruined his qualifying session, and reacting to this, fans have shared their thoughts on social media.
Following two brilliant qualifying sessions, SQ1 and SQ2, Hamilton was poised for a formidable position in the SQ3. However, it did not materialize. Despite having a fiery Sector 1 in his final flying lap where he was up by four-tenths, his Sector 2 and Sector 3 fell apart after the yellow flag, resulting in a P7 qualification.
Hamilton's teammate George Russell missed out on the pole position by 0.012, as Max Verstappen claimed it. Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris qualified in P3 and P4. Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg occupied P5 and P6.
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Kevin Magnussen, Yuki Tsunoda, and Franco Colapinto completed the top 10. As Hamilton had an underwhelming Friday, fans took to their social media to hit out at Mercedes for their decision to send Lewis Hamilton way ahead of his competitors.
A fan wrote, blaming Mercedes for the debacle, "Mercedes once again just Sabotaged Lewis...I kid you not...THIS TEAM!"
"Toto at it again. He needs to stop sab0taginh Lewis' race," another fan wrote, reiterating the same.
Another fan believes, "Lewis would’ve been on pole if you sent him out later but you know."
"Could have been an easy 1-2 if you'd sent them out at a decent time," a fan wrote about the mistake in timing.
A fan wrote, slamming the Mercedes strategy, "Lewis finishing P7 is a great shame. I cannot support your team's strategy of getting George and Lewis on the track before any other team."
"Have shame you clowns," another fan wrote on Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton shared his thoughts after a poor qualifying performance
Following the conclusion of the Sprint Qualifying, Lewis Hamilton spoke to the media and shared that the yellow flag ruined it for him and it was not the end of the road for him. Citing this, he added that he's determined to go for more 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. We did a great job in between [sessions] to make changes to the car and it’s always a bit of a gamble cause you don’t know whether or not it’s gonna work– and soon as I got out of the car it was night and day difference.”
The 2024 United States Grand Prix to host the Sprint race on Saturday, followed by the Grand Prix qualifying later in the day.
