“It Can’t Get Any Worse, Surely, and It Did. Sh*t Happens”: Lewis Hamilton Experiments With This Setup Again and Regrets It Instantly

Lewis Hamilton went from feeling extremely high to extremely low in about 4 hours. After a strong second-place finish in the Chinese Sprint Race, Hamilton finds himself in big trouble for the main race on Sunday after getting knocked out of the first part of qualifying. The 7-time champion could only set the 18th fastest lap in his final Q1 run after locking up into a Turn 14 hairpin that cost him nearly six-tenths of a second compared to his teammate George Russell.

But how can a car that was second in the Sprint Race struggle to make it to Q2? According to Lewis Hamilton, he tried experimenting with his setup once the parc ferme was opened after the Sprint Race, and he went in the opposite direction of his teammate. Unfortunately, the setup on Hamilton’s Mercedes didn’t work at all. He expressed remorse over team radio after Q1 by simply saying, “Sorry guys.”

After he got out of the car, Lewis Hamilton spoke with Sky Sports and explained what exactly went wrong at his side of the garage. Hamilton highlighted the experimental nature of his approach as he spoke about the adjustments made to his car during the break between the Sprint Race and qualifying. “In the morning, George and I had very similar cars, but this afternoon, we’re trying to experiment with the car,” Hamilton noted.

“So I went one way, and then he went the other way, just to see if we could find anything. That’s what we need to do at the moment. But it didn’t work. I’ll give it my best shot. 18th is pretty bad. But when I made the set-up changes because I was like, ‘It can’t get worse, surely’. And it did. Sh*t happens,” he added.

While Lewis saw his experiments as the reason for his poor qualifying result in China, his former teammate criticized him for his mistake in the final Q1 lap.

Nico Rosberg slams Lewis Hamilton for making an unforced error in Turn 14

After watching Hamilton get knocked out of Q1, his former rival, Nico Rosberg, pointed out that his error was avoidable, especially for a seven-time world champion. Speaking on Sky Sports, the 2016 champion expressed his disappointment, saying, “That is seriously painful. In 18th position is Lewis.”

“It was really unnecessary to push the limit… He lost at least four tenths, which easily would have put him in Q2. That’s a disaster.” Rosberg also explained the technical aspects of the error, noting the impact of wind and brake balance on Hamilton’s performance. “You know the wind is coming from the back there at that part of the track. He had a great lap until then. It’s three meters too late, and he had the brake balance too far forward,” he concluded.

Could Lewis have advanced to the top-10 shootout if not for his mistake in Turn 14? What are your thoughts on the matter?