Lewis Hamilton experienced his next big disappointment in qualifying for the Las Vegas Grand Prix in his Ferrari. RTL expert Günther Steiner explains where the record champions’ problems lie.
Lewis Hamilton was only behind in the glittering qualifying in Las Vegas. After the first session it was already time for the Ferrari star to finish the race (on Sunday from 4:30 a.m. live on RTL) must start from the very last place.
Hunting for times in the gambling metropolis was also extremely difficult due to the weather conditions. When it rained and the track later dried out, many drivers had problems – especially Lewis Hamilton, who announced on the radio: “I couldn’t get the tires to work.”
Former Formula 1 team boss Günther Steiner analyzed after qualifying RTL: “With Lewis (Hamilton, editor’s note) you have to say: I don’t think he had a feeling for the car. And if you don’t have the tires within the temperature window, find the braking points correctly and get into the negative: it just doesn’t work, it’s so difficult out there.”
Significantly: Hamilton could have made one last attempt for a faster lap towards the end of the first session. But because he thought he had only crossed the line after time had expired, he didn’t go on another flying lap. “When I crossed the line it was red,” the Brit told Sky.
Perfect qualifying for Norris: “McLaren did a great job”
Hamilton’s teammate Leclerc also initially had problems, but ultimately made it to Q3 and thus to ninth place. “He tried it, but had to risk too much for a fast lap. That didn’t work,” said Steiner.
Qualifying went perfectly for World Championship leader Lando Norris, who grabbed pole position ahead of Max Verstappen. “McLaren did a great job, Lando (Norris) was one of the last to do a lap in the best track conditions at the end. Max tried, but it didn’t quite work. It was very exciting,” said the RTL expert.
The fact that Sauber, the future Audi factory team, had previously decided in the third free practice session not to give Nico Hülkenberg any minutes on the track may have been a strategic decision, according to the former Formula 1 team boss. Hülkenberg only intervened late in the session and in the end his time was only good enough for 17th place.
Steiner: “This is usually discussed with the drivers. Nico was certainly happy with it. They believed that the conditions in qualifying would be different anyway. So why use up tires? With eleventh place (in qualifying) he can already move forward.”