Traffic Woes and Turbulence: Unpacking Lewis Hamilton’s Challenging Qualifying at Austrian GP

Lewis Hamilton's "calamitous" qualifying session clarified by a "significant" two-tenth deficit

“There was no action he could have taken since Leclerc was not where he was supposed to be.”

Lewis Hamilton's "disappointing" sprint qualifying results at the F1 Austrian Grand Prix have been attributed to losing significant time due to traffic during his last lap.

Hamilton clinched the sixth position on the starting grid for Saturday's sprint race, finishing 0.2 seconds behind his Mercedes teammate, George Russell.

The seven-time world champion faced a challenging qualifying round at the Red Bull Ring, barely advancing past SQ1 following an error during his initial attempt on medium tires.

During his last attempt, he veered off course at Turn 3, losing valuable time on his lap as a result.

Looking back on the session, Hamilton remarked: "I wasn't competitive at any point during the session. From my perspective, it was quite a disaster. What more can I add? Practice went well, and the car felt fine overall."

“I don’t believe we had the speed to secure the pole position. However, my laps were quite poor…”

It seems that Hamilton fell further behind because of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc experienced a delay in the pit lane due to an anti-stall problem, causing him to fall out of rhythm.

As a result, Leclerc’s out-lap intersected with Hamilton’s fastest lap, causing Hamilton to be impacted by the disrupted airflow in the last few turns.

Upon reviewing Hamilton's performance in the SQ3 session, Sky analyst Anthony Davidson believed that Leclerc's actions resulted in Hamilton losing approximately two-tenths of a second.

Davidson clarified that, according to Lewis, the journey wasn't smooth. While Lewis was responsible for some difficulties, other challenges were beyond his control.

"He is clearly closing in on the Ferrari. He will undoubtedly experience aerodynamic turbulence in Turns 9 and especially 10, causing him to lose precious fractions of a second."

"It's challenging to pinpoint the exact amount, but I would estimate that you could lose about two-tenths of a second in those two corners."

“There was no action he could take since Leclerc was not in the correct position.”

Mercedes still had a successful day, with George Russell securing a fourth-place qualifying position.

This signifies that Mercedes' recent comeback is persisting after their improved performance starting from the Canadian Grand Prix.

Davidson believes that Mercedes has untapped potential for the rest of the weekend.

"The car definitely has speed, as Russell demonstrated," he remarked. "It’s positive. It’s refreshing to see Mercedes frustrated, for a change, because they’re not leading the pack."

"Not long ago, they would have been happy with this outcome. Lewis is moving forward and improving. The car has more potential to be unlocked."

As Toto mentioned, falling out of rhythm right from the start, especially with that rally-like incident at Turn 1, was a setback for him from the outset. I believe the car can show better speed for tomorrow and Sunday.

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