Mercedes Upgrades Under Scrutiny: Hamilton’s Rare Spin Raises Questions at United States GP

Lewis Hamilton suggests that recent enhancements to the Mercedes vehicle may have caused his unusual spin during the United States Grand Prix. He explained, "The car began to bounce, with the front left tire starting the motion, and then the rear end lost control. It was a similar situation for George the day before."

Lewis Hamilton hinted that the new upgrade package from Mercedes might have been responsible for his unexpected spin in the initial laps of the United States Grand Prix.

During Sunday's race at the Circuit of the Americas, Hamilton was the sole driver who did not finish, as he spun out and ended up in the gravel trap at the second-to-last corner on the third lap.

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Much like his teammate George Russell, he also experienced a loss of control with his Mercedes during the qualifying session.

Hamilton expressed his surprise at the spin, attributing it to the "bouncing" that occurred beforehand.

According to Motorsport.com, Hamilton shared his thoughts, saying: “I got off to an excellent start, felt confident, and made my way up to 12th position. It was the most impressive beginning I’ve had at the first corner in quite some time.”

"I wasn't exerting full effort then; I was simply attempting to start moving and warm up the tires."

"The vehicle began to bounce, with the left front and rear end following suit, causing it to spin around. It was similar to what happened to George the day before."

Hamilton suggested that the new set of enhancements he was using during the race might have led to his spin, especially since Russell, who began from the pit lane following a crash, wasn't using them.

"In the first practice session, I experienced a similar issue," he mentioned. "I had a spin at Turn 3, which is extremely unusual. In all my years here, I've never spun at Turn 3 before."

"I mentioned earlier that George faced a similar issue yesterday. He switched back to the older model of the car and seems to be performing well, which suggests there might be an issue with the latest upgrade."

"We will conduct a thorough investigation, and after collecting the data today, we will determine whether we will use the old specification or adopt the new one for the upcoming week."

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is certain that there is indeed a problem, attributing it to the car's aerodynamic balance rather than a mistake by Hamilton.

"The car was doing all the work. At that point, he wasn't even trying hard. We saw it with George yesterday, who was giving it his all, yet," Wolff explained to Sky.

"We certainly have a problem. It’s not typical for Lewis Hamilton to have a car failure by the fifth lap."

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