Lewis Hamilton has a worrying theory about Mercedes after crashing out of the US Grand Prix | F1 | Sport

Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes’ upgrade package may have something to do with his uncharacteristic spin on lap three of the US Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion had a weekend to forget, finishing sixth in the sprint race and crashing out of Q1 later on Saturday. However, after starting from 17th on the grid, he made a strong start to the Grand Prix, rising to 12th at the end of the first lap.

However, on the third lap this progress collapsed. Entering Turn 19 he lost the rear of his W15 car, skidded into the gravel and pushed the car onto the bank, which in turn triggered the safety car.

Hamilton wasn’t the only Mercedes driver to struggle at this corner. On his final lap of Q3 on Saturday, teammate Russell suffered an almost identical crash, hitting the barrier after losing control at Turn 19.

The seven-time world champion believes the two incidents may be related. “In P1 I had the same thing,” Hamilton said. “I had a spin in Turn 3, which is so rare. In all the years I’ve been here, I’ve never spun into Turn 3.

“I was just saying that George apparently had the same problem yesterday, he went back to the old car and it looks good there, so maybe there’s something to the new upgrade.”

Offering more details about the crash that ended his race, Hamilton explained: “I wasn’t even in a rush at that point. I was literally just trying to get going and get the tires warm. The car started bouncing, the left front started bouncing and the rear just turned around. It was the same as George yesterday.”

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