Lewis Hamilton withdraws from US Grand Prix after incident on second lap of COTA

Lewis Hamilton crashed out of the US Grand Prix on just the third lap, capping a difficult weekend for the seven-time Formula One world champion.

After suffering a Q1 knockout on Saturday, Lewis Hamilton’s poor weekend at the Circuit of the Americas ended with him falling into the gravel trap at Turn 19.

Lewis Hamilton pulls out of US Grand Prix

Starting the race from 17th on the grid, Hamilton opted for hard tires for his first run in Austin.

Having made a great start and finishing the first lap in 12th place, all the good work was undone on lap three when Hamilton’s rear slipped out of Turn 19’s left-hander.

Similar to the incident in which his Mercedes teammate George Russell spun out of Q3 at the same corner, Hamilton was powerless to bring the rear of the W15 under control and ended up in the gravel.

Climbing out of the cockpit in frustration, Hamilton slowly removed his knee pads as the race was neutralized by the safety car before retreating behind the barriers, apologizing to his team for the loss of control.

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