Lewis Hamilton has been replaced for Mexican Grand Prix practice by Mercedes after his issues at the US Grand Prix on Sunday night.
The 39-year-old had a race to forget, with the veteran unable to finish the race after crashing out in the gravel.
Hamilton’s time with the Silver Arrows is drawing to a close, with the Stevenage-born racer set to join Ferrari next year.
And he now won’t be competing at the Mexican GP, with Mercedes choosing to replace him with 18-year-old Italian star Kimi Antonelli for practice instead.
Lewis Hamilton has been replaced for Mexican Grand Prix practice by Mercedes after his issues at the US Grand Prix on Sunday night
REUTERS
F1 rules state that every team must give two practice opportunities to rookie drivers, one in each car.
Antonelli is set to permanently replace Hamilton in 2025, once he’s packed his bags and left for his new surroundings at Ferrari.
Speaking after the US Grand Prix, the Briton admitted he was disappointed by his performance.
And he also criticised Mercedes’ car, blaming his vehicle for his failure to finish the race.
“That’s never happened before,” Hamilton said during an interview with Sky Sports.
“I wasn’t really pushing at that point and the car started bouncing.
“Bono just said that I got a 40km tailwind but the left wheel was bouncing up in the air and I lost the back end.
“I’ve just never had that happen before.”
He added: “The same thing happened to George [Russell] yesterday on this new update package that we worked so hard to bring.
“He’s obviously fortunately doing a great job today but he’s got the old package on.
“It will be interesting to see if there’s learnings from it but it’s so upsetting.
“I’m so sorry to all the team back at the factory. I’ve never spun off in a race I think before.
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Lewis Hamilton was left frustrated by his performance at the US Grand Prix
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“It’s not that I wasn’t focused. I was really caught by surprise by this bouncing I had and obviously I’m devastated.
“I’ll just try and prepare better for next week. Hopefully have the car in a better place next week.”
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff was also asked about Hamilton’s wretched fortunes.
And he also blamed the car, rather than the driver.
Lewis Hamilton will be replaced by Kimi Antonelli for Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix
PA
The Austrian stated: “100 per cent car. I think he was not even pushing at that stage.
“We’ve seen it [in qualifying] with George, and that was maybe over pushing it, but still abrupt[ly] losing it, putting it in the wall. Today, such a situation, there was wind and there was a little bit of dirty air.
“We have definitely [got] an issue. I don’t know whether it was yesterday the same as today. Definitely Lewis Hamilton doesn’t lose the car like this.”