Lewis Hamilton suspects that excessive understeer on his Mercedes Formula 1 car rather than debris led to the puncture that ruined his race at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Hamilton endured an eventful run in his penultimate Mercedes showing at the Lusail International Circuit as he copped two penalties and a puncture en route to 12th.
Despite committing a false start which handed him his initial punishment, Hamilton dropped several positions on the run towards Turn 1 to go from sixth place to ninth.
The Briton managed to sweep back past Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin to climb back up to eighth, but he was unable to mount an attack on Sergio Perez’s Red Bull.
Hamilton’s outing started to unravel when a puncture on Lap 34 tumbled him down the order and then a late penalty for speeding in the pitlane compounded his woes.
The seven-time F1 champion had urged Mercedes to retire his car in the closing laps, but he changed his mind when the team handed him permission to exit the race.
“It could have been worse, but I finished and it’s over,” Hamilton told media including Motorsport Week.
“That was me at the start. And then the puncture was really unfortunate. And the pitlane, that was me as well.
“I’ll do my best, but I’ll get back up tomorrow and give it another shot.”
Hamilton provides theory on Qatar puncture
The punctures that Hamilton and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz incurred were attributed to debris on the main straight from the scattered wing mirror of Alex Albon’s Williams.
However, Hamilton believes that his struggles with understeer in the W15 could’ve contributed at a time when his Medium compound was getting down to the canvas.
“We didn’t get the wing setting right,” he said. “It’s happened many times. Yeah, just basically not having enough front wing in the car, and the car just wouldn’t turn.
“So I was just understeering massively for a long period of time. And honestly, for me, it felt like that’s what led to the tyre failing.
“Maybe it was debris. I didn’t see any debris, to be honest, but it’s not ideal. It happened just as I got to the pitlane entry.”
Hamilton not expecting fitting farewell
Hamilton has admitted that he is not holding out hope that an upturn will arrive this weekend in Abu Dhabi to allow him to end his Mercedes career on a positive note.
“I don’t think we’re going to end on a high,” he conceded. “And I think what’s important is that we turn up and give it our best shot.
“It’s going to be a much better weekend than what we’ve had in recent years. Going in with low hopes and coming out with a better result.
“There’s a pretty big difference either way. I think we’re not joking. These last races really don’t have an impact on our performance.”
He added: “There’s been loads of good races. It’s been a roller coaster ride of emotions. I’ve had great races in my life and I’ve had bad races. Not too many bad ones.”
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