Lewis Hamilton puts blame on ‘out of sequence’ run over shock Q1 exit at final Mercedes race

In his final race weekend with Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton got knocked out in Q1, which the Briton blamed on the team's subpar strategy.

Lewis Hamilton puts blame on ‘out of sequence’ run over shock Q1 exit at final Mercedes race

Lewis Hamilton (via Formula 1)

Lewis Hamilton‘s 2024 season has often been struck with bad luck and the final qualifying was no different. A stuck bollard hampered his car’s aerodynamics in Abu Dhabi qualifying. Despite this, the 39-year-old remained focused on Mercedes‘ out-of-sequence strategy, which he blamed for his Q1 exit in his farewell race with the team.

The Briton was not the only driver to start on the hard tires in Q1 as Aston Martin‘s Fernando Alonso was also on a similar strategy. Though the Spaniard could make work the peculiar strategy as he later jumped onto the soft tires, Lewis Hamilton was unfortunately put to work as Kevin Magnussen accidentally dislodged a bollard that got stuck underneath the former’s W15.

YouTube video

This ruined Hamilton’s final sector under the lights in Abu Dhabi, making him fall at the first hurdle (Q1). Subsequently, the seven-time champion was unhappy with the way his strategy was handled by Mercedes and expressed his frustration in the post-qualifying interviews.

FS Video

We did something very different, which was we went out on the hard tyre, which is odd in qualifying and then came back in and we were just out of sequence to everybody else so we were the last on track.

Lewis Hamilton said post qualifying

While Hamilton labeled his out-of-sequence run as the main reason behind his Q1 elimination, Mercedes lacked pace as George Russell could only qualify seventh for the Grand Prix. Moreover, the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg was able to set a faster lap time than the W15, which might raise questions about the ability of the Silver Arrows on race day.

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Lewis Hamilton disappointed (via Formula 1)

Lewis Hamilton hopes for a better race in final Mercedes outing

Despite the torrid result in qualifying, Hamilton and Mercedes would hope to end the partnership on a high note. Though the 39-year-old was initially unhappy with the team’s questionable run plan, he looked at the bigger picture and claimed to go out with a big bang.

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff (via racefans.net)
Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton (via racefans.net)

This urged Hamilton to glance at the pace that the W15 had portrayed during the Free Practice sessions.

I’ll try to [come through the field tomorrow], as I said the car’s been feeling decent. To go from FP1 and 2, I was always relatively in the Top 5, to then be 18th definitely changes the look into the weekend but I’m still trying to be really present.

Lewis Hamilton said post qualifying
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Max Verstappen and George Russell (via MotorsportImages)

On the other hand, his future team, Ferrari is currently fighting for the constructors’ championship. However, their chances look slim as Charles Leclerc is faced with a 10-place grid penalty while McLaren has locked out the front row. They appear as the favorite to take the championship home.