He was saved in Bahrain Lewis Hamilton, hitting a sensational podium at the end of the opening race of the season despite a not particularly competitive car, thanks to the double retirement of the two Red Bulls. In Saudi Arabia, however, already in today’s qualifying all the enormous problems of his Mercedes emerged, probably combined with a setup that is anything but optimal. Thus the # 44, who in Jeddah just over three months ago had conquered his last of 103 career pole positions, was clovingly eliminated in Q1. To put it out, in a mocking way, was another motorized driver from the house of the star: Lance Stroll, at the wheel of the Aston Martin.
A fact that testifies to how it is the silver arrow, at least the one led by the current vice-champion of the world, to have difficulties. The other Brackley car, in fact, which he sees behind the wheel George Russell, played a more than good Q1, hoisting himself in fourth position behind the now ‘usual’ Sainz-Verstappen-Leclerc trio. Hamilton’s last non-penalty elimination in Q1 was in 2017, in Brazil, when the Englishman ran into the barriers. To find an elimination based only on the times he scored on the track and in dry conditions, one must even go back to 2009, when the then McLaren driver was unable to overcome the first ‘cut’ at Silverstone.
#Qualifying #Jeddah #Hamilton #FormulaPassionit
