Qualifying at Interlagos was chaotic to say the least, with the rain coming and going, really forcing the drivers to feel their way into the track and make the tight call between intermediate and soft compound tyres every time they took to the track.
In a stunning turn of events Kevin Magnussen took pole position in his Haas, after getting the quickest lap time on softs before the rain set in, and prevented anyone from being able to beat his lap time.
With the track constantly damp, keeping temperature in the tyres was crucial to being able to set a strong lap time, and Hamilton believes that Mercedes position in the pit lane may have hindered him.
Teams take the order in the pitlane of the previous year’s constructors’ championship, meaning Mercedes are first, and Haas are last.
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This means that when all the cars in Q3 made the desperate rush to get a lap in on softs before the rain made it impossible, Magnussen got out first and set his time, while the other drivers had to wait behind him in the pit lane, losing tyre temperature all the time, with Hamilton at the back of this queue.
“It was difficult to see the conditions, it was difficult to see the rain drops and it was so dark,” said Hamilton when asked about the Q3 drama.
“I was the last car out so I think I got the earliest part of the rain. I probably lost too much temperature in the pit lane as well.
“Just a bit unfortunate. George did a great job and congratulations to Kevin.”
Magnussen was helped out by Hamilton’s teammate George Russell, who managed to beach his car at Turn 4 while trying to correct his car’s angle in the gravel trap, causing a red flag.
The rain increased dramatically during the red flag period, meaning that when the drivers were allowed to resume the session, after Russell’s car had be cleared, the track was wet and therefore it would have been impossible to beat the Dane’s time, handing him his first ever pole position in F1.
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“Massive congratulations to Kevin and Haas,” said the Brit after the session.
“This is what F1 and sport is about to have some crazy results like this but for us P3 is a good place to start for the sprint.”
Hamilton will not be as content with his starting position, as he now has to overcome a P8 start in the sprint if he wants to secure his first win of the season.