Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton blames 'undriveable' car after crushing Q1 ouster

After a podium finish in the Bahrain GP, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton's chance to extend the lead over Max Verstappen was crushed into pieces following his early ouster from the qualifying race of Saudi Arabian GP. 

Lewis Hamilton crashed out in Q1 during the qualifying session of Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Saturday, which was his first time since his crash ahead of the 2017 Brazilian GP. 

F1: Lewis Hamilton talks about his Q1 exit during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Hamilton finished 16th after the qualifying session and according to Sky Sports, the Mercedes driver, while speaking to media, said that a setup change was the reason for his lack of pace compared to team-mate George Russell, who finished sixth. Lewis Hamilton explained,

"I don't know how different the cars are set up but the car was undriveable with the set-up I chose.But it's my own fault, I made some set-up changes.I don't know if that was everything to do with it, but it was very unstable. I don't what I'm going to be able to do tomorrow, but I'm a long way back."

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was adamant that there was no "huge set-up" differences between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell's cars. He said, "We have many parts of the car that don't work, that we don't understand, they don't perform enough and this is not where we all expect the car to be.

F1 marshal resigns post horrific tweet against Lewis Hamilton

While Lewis Hamilton had a poor qualifying session on Saturday an F1 Marshal resigned from his position following a horrific cryptic tweet against Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.

As per reports, the incident happened ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with the tweet stating Lewis Hamilton should suffer similar crash to Romain Grosjean’s accident at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix where his Haas car burst into fire following the crash. According to a report by The Mirror, the marshal has since issued an apology for the horrific tweet he made and confirmed he is no longer working at the race.

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has been a chaotic one even before the race day after the Yemeni Houthi rebels attacked an oil facility belonging to the Saudi government during the practice session on Friday. FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali met with drivers and team principals of all 20 squads before the qualifying session on Saturday and assured them of safety