Lewis Hamilton will start the Las Vegas Grand Prix from the very back of the grid after suffering elimination as the slowest driver in Q1.<\/p>\n
Analysis of Hamilton\u2019s radio as Q1 reached crunch time uncovered \u201cconfusion\u201d, as Bernie Collins termed it, with Hamilton<\/a> seeing red on his Ferrari dash and lifting off, despite having actually made it to the line which permitted one more flying lap. Collins\u2019 Sky F1 colleague Simon Lazenby quipped that he wondered what Ferrari chairman John Elkann would make of it all, a nod to what went down after Brazil.<\/p>\n Lewis Hamilton radio \u2018confusion\u2019 amid huge Las Vegas GP setback<\/p>\n After Thursday practice in Sin City, Hamilton had declared that he was \u201chappy\u201d with the Ferrari SF-25, and so would not make many changes. But, as the rain arrived for qualifying, Hamilton\u2019s race weekend unravelled.<\/p>\n He ended Q1 as the slowest of all 20 drivers, his final run not helped by wiping out a bollard at Turn 14. What also did not help was failing to make use of a last attempt.<\/p>\n Hamilton made it to the line before the chequered flag flew by the skin of his teeth, allowing him one last shot at escaping the Q1 elimination zone. He would not attempt another push lap, consigning him to last place on the Las Vegas Grand Prix grid.<\/p>\n In the Sky F1 commentary box, 2009 world champion Jenson Button \u2013 also Hamilton\u2019s former McLaren teammate \u2013 immediately reacted: \u201cWhen you\u2019re in that position in P20, your team should be telling you to push to the line, to get that final lap first of all. I don\u2019t know if they were, and then giving him a lot of encouragement.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a real shame. He\u2019s a rain master. To see him down in last, this just doesn\u2019t seem right.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton would explain what had happened from his side.<\/p>\n \u201cAs I came across the line, it was red,\u201d he said of his Ferrari dash, \u201cso, there was no miscommunication from my side.\u201d<\/p>\n Collins, the former McLaren senior performance engineer and ex-Aston Martin strategy chief, had listened back to Hamilton\u2019s team radio, and discovered that he had been kept informed by Ferrari of his very tight timeframe to make the line.<\/p>\n Hamilton would back off by his own volition when he saw the red on his dash, instead of setting off on one last push lap.<\/p>\n \u201cJust to come in on that a little bit, I was trying to listen to it during commentary, and I went back and listened to it when Lewis went out, because it was clear from radio, there was a bit of confusion over the lights,\u201d said Collins.<\/p>\n \u201cSo on the lap before, the lap where he\u2019s coming towards the line, the pit wall does tell him it\u2019s going to be tight for one more lap. Keep pushing to get another lap, I think, is the phrase they used.<\/p>\n \u201cSo that\u2019s clear indication to a driver, one, that you\u2019re not safe, if they tell you to keep pushing to get another lap, and two, that it\u2019s tight for the line, but they think it\u2019s possible, or they wouldn\u2019t tell you that.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, he was told that earlier on in the lap. Then when he crosses the line, Lewis says, \u2018Am I safe?\u2019 His engineer comes on and says, \u2018No, keep pushing.\u2019 And Lewis said, \u2018I got the light, I got the red light.\u2019 And the engineer comes on again and goes, \u2018No, keep pushing.\u2019 But at that stage, it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was given, before he got to the line, the information that it was going to be tight and he needed to keep pushing. Then when he got the red light, he assumed that maybe Ferrari got the timing slightly wrong, or he didn\u2019t make the flag, or whatever. So he thought he didn\u2019t get it. He instantly lifts off. Then it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as the driver lifts off, there\u2019s no point in telling him to push again, because you\u2019ve already lost the lap. And it was all of those things went together. But I think to defend the Ferrari pit wall, I think the information was there.\u201d<\/p>\n More reaction from Las Vegas GP qualifying<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 Winners and losers from the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying<\/a><\/p>\n