Lewis Hamilton’s strategic gamble falls short in Austria qualifying
- Damian Hall
- Jun 29, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 20, 2024
29th June 2024
The seven-time world champion starts sprint race from 6th
The third sprint qualifying session of the 2024 Formula 1 season concluded in Austria with Sir Lewis Hamilton managing to qualify 6th for today’s Sprint Race, reports Damian Hall.
The seven-time world champion made a bold move during the sole practice session, opting to make his runs solely on the harder, slower, white-striped tyre compound, while other drivers experimented with different compounds, including the much faster, red-striped soft compound.
During Sprint qualifying, drivers are required to fit a new medium (yellow-striped) tyre during the first session (Sprint Qualifying 1), a new medium for SQ2, then have the option of either a new or used soft compound for the final session (SQ3).
Hamilton’s unique strategy left him with a potentially game-changing tyre advantage going into the final session, as he would have a new soft tyre for both qualifying and the race.
However, this also meant that Hamilton would be unfamiliar with the other tyre compounds until qualifying, and he was unable to deliver the perfect lap to capitalise fully on his strategy.
Hamilton said after the qualifier: “Practice felt good. The car generally felt good.” He did, however, admit to having “very bad laps.” When asked about his plan for the race, he added: “We’ll give it our best.”
His teammate, George Russell, will start in 4th.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took pole, much to the delight of his home crowd. In a post-qualifying interview, Verstappen said: “To be first here in front of my home fans, home grand prix, it was a good day so far. The car was well balanced, good start to the weekend, still a lot to do.”
McLaren’s Lando Norris will start in 2nd, and his teammate Oscar Piastri 3rd.
The session was not without drama after Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari stalled in the pit lane. This prevented him from setting a lap time.
Leclerc will now start from 10th. He expressed his frustration shortly after the qualifying session, saying, “I don’t know what happened. I was in the pit lane, I got the anti-stall, and then everything switched off.”
Fans will now have to see whether Hamilton’s fresh soft tyres will impact his performance and if Leclerc can make a significant comeback. The duo, set to be teammates at Ferrari for the 2025 season, have a lot to prove.
With three drag reduction system (DRS) zones, the sprint race is poised to be an exciting showdown, with Hamilton’s strategic gamble still having a chance to pay off.
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