The 2024 United States Grand Prix weekend didn’t go well for seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. He experienced an early retirement, something he’d never faced at the US GP before. Despite starting strong in sprint qualifying, Hamilton struggled with multiple issues during the three-day weekend and this became clear during the sprint race itself.

Unfortunately, in the main race, he lost control of his car and crashed on lap 3, admitting afterward that the incident was inevitable. Lewis Hamilton started the US GP from P17, benefiting from Liam Lawson’s engine penalty, which moved him up from P19. He made solid progress, climbing to P12 before things took a turn for the worst.

On lap 3, he lost control of the rear of his car at Turn 19, forcing him into an early retirement. Hamilton explained that he had sensed the crash was coming and believed it was inevitable, whether on that lap or the next. He mentioned that bouncing on the car triggered the loss of control.

Well, if I didn’t have this bouncing and stuff, I mean, that, I think if it didn’t happen, that lap would have happened another lap coming up. Lewis Hamilton told SBnation. comHamilton believed the issues during the US GP were due to Mercedes’ new package, which was introduced for the race.

The same problem occurred with George Russell during qualifying, as he also lost control at COTA while using the new setup. After Russell’s crash, which severely damaged his car, Mercedes decided to revert to the older package. Russell made the switch starting from the pit lane.

This outcome made it clear that the new package had some significant flaws, directly affecting Hamilton’s performance throughout the weekend. Because something wasn’t quite right there on the car and it’s been the same most of the weekend with this new package we have. Lewis Hamilton statedRELATEDHelmut Marko cleverly gives a squirrel reference in Max Verstappen’ pursuit of ‘picking up’ points in title fightMercedes awaits data to decide on the spec for Lewis Hamilton at Mexican GPLewis Hamilton explained that having a full set of practice sessions at the upcoming Mexican GP will help Mercedes sort out the balance problems they’ve been facing.

With more track time, the team can gather valuable data to better understand the car’s performance. Based on the data, Mercedes will decide whether to stick with the new specifications on the W15 or revert to the older version. Lewis Hamilton (via Formula 1)Yeah, I think thankfully we’ll get the data from today and we’ll find out whether or not we’re gonna be on the old or new spec next week.

Lewis Hamilton saidRELATEDLando Norris deems US GP fourth place as ‘momentum killer’ amidst fierce title tussle against Max VerstappenMercedes faces a tough challenge in the 2024 constructors championship battle with a significant gap to close. However, with five races and two sprint events left in the season, the competition is heating up between the top four teams on the grid.