Lewis Hamilton described the Chinese Grand Prix as the “worst race” of the season, as it left him regretting his decision to change his settings.
After finishing second in Saturday's sprint race, Hamilton dropped out of Q1, starting 18th after a mistake on the final lap.
The six-time Tour of China winner described how he made a phone call after the sprint to get away from team-mate George Russell, who finished sixth, as he secured a ninth consecutive pole position in the race – and fourth in his last five starts. , including the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
It is a continuation of the worst start of Hamilton's Formula 1 career in his final season with Mercedes, where he described how starting on soft tires led to him believing he had suffered damage.
Hamilton failed
“It wasn't better than we expected, we expected to be somewhere in there,” Hamilton told media outlets including: Racing News 365.
“I thought maybe at first I had taken advantage of someone because I had never experienced so much neglect in my life.
“I was moving at low speed and waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting [for the car to turn]so I thought I might have damaged something as there was debris everywhere at one point, but that was just the setting I chose.
“It was the worst race so far, but obviously we had a second race in the sprint, and with some better decisions with the setup, I will be close to where George is, but we just have to keep working.”
