‘What is going on there?’: Lewis Hamilton’s qualifying disaster at United States Grand Prix

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has been knocked out in Q1 of the United States Grand Prix, with the seven-time world champion set to start this weekend’s race towards the back of the grid.

The 39-year-old posted the 19th fastest time of the first qualifying session, clocking 1:34.154 after a slow middle sector.

“It was the middle sector that cost him, he lost half a second,” Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle said.

“But my goodness what is going on there?

“Lewis Hamilton P19 is a total shock.”

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Williams drivers Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto also failed to progress beyond Q1, along with Sauber drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.

Hamilton will start the race (Monday morning AEDT) in 18th because of a grid penalty for RB rookie Liam Lawson.

The 39-year-old later explained that a front suspension failure was to blame for the early exit.

“In the Sprint we had some sort of failure from the formation lap on the front suspension,” Hamilton said.

“I had that throughout the Sprint race. That made the balance really difficult.

“We changed a couple of things which pushed us in the direction in what we would have done yesterday. The car was a nightmare in qualifying.

“I should probably start in the pit lane, otherwise I won’t be going anywhere from where I am.”

Earlier on Saturday, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed a comfortable victory in the frantic sprint race, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and McLaren’s Lando Norris joining him on the podium.

More to come …