Lewis Hamilton described his entire weekend at the 2024 Australian Grand Prix as a significant challenge, culminating in his retirement on Lap 17 at Albert Park.
Mercedes struggled to find their pace during Saturday’s qualifying session, with George Russell barely making it into Q3, while Hamilton failed to progress beyond Q2.
On race day, Hamilton’s difficulties continued. Just 17 laps into the Grand Prix, he, following an alternate strategy by starting on soft tires from P11, compared to the mediums of his competitors, radioed Mercedes to report an “engine failure.”
The seven-time world champion and eight-time Australian Grand Prix pole-sitter subsequently pulled over at Turn 10, abandoning his troubled W15 and making his way back to the paddock.
“I didn’t feel [the power unit failing], it just went in one go,” Hamilton commented afterward. “I didn’t feel it coming. Definitely frustrating because it was so early in the race, it was open to be able to progress forward and on a different strategy to everyone. But these things happen.”
Hamilton expressed his disappointment on Saturday, describing his mood as “flat.” As the most successful qualifier in Formula 1 history, he candidly admitted that being knocked out of Q2 was something he had grown accustomed to.
Following the Australian Grand Prix, where Carlos Sainz claimed victory for Ferrari after Max Verstappen’s retirement, Hamilton maintained a similar demeanor when addressing the media.
When questioned about his takeaways from the race, Hamilton responded: “Nothing more than I’ve known before… We didn’t look terrible in the high-speed [corners] but we’re slow in the low-speed this weekend, whereas in the last race, we were bad in the high-speed, good in the lower stuff.
“Yeah – a real struggle this weekend.”
The woes for Mercedes worsened as George Russell crashed out of contention for points just a few laps before the checkered flag. As a result, the Silver Arrows fell behind Aston Martin to P5 in the constructors’ standings.
