Hamilton reveales how "downgraded upshifts" have contributed to his crash at Zandvoort
Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton has revealed that multiple factors have contributed to his crash at last Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix, including "downgraded shifts."
The Briton, who will suffer a five-place grid penalty this weekend for an installation lap indiscretion last weekend in Zandvoort, posted a 1m 20.117s in the final five minutes on the soft Pirelli rubber, which thrilled the Tifosi and left him 0.169s clear of Leclerc.
His best effort saw Hamilton end up fifth quickest, but his penalty means that the Briton will only line up tenth on the grid.
Speaking of his progression and integration at Ferrari, Hamilton sounded a positive note, claiming that his Zandvoort race has been his strongest appearance so far with the Italian outfit.
"Throughout the weekend, the approach we had was spot on. I felt it was one of our strongest, if not the strongest, and smoothest weekends up until Sunday.
"Sunday was disappointing and unfortunate, not the result we want. It’s unusual for me because I don’t really make a lot of mistakes in races like that.
"The great thing is the team remained really positive, incredibly supportive every weekend. They lift your spirits. Then in the following days, they deep-dived into trying to understand what led to it. It wasn’t a lack of concentration."
The seven-time F1 champion displayed a strong performance last time out at Zandvoort, having been only fractionally slower than his team-mate Charles Leclerc in qualifying and he also looked to have the tyre management under control on Sunday.
However, while he was hunting down his former team-mate George Russell, he suffered a crash at the Turn 3 banking on his own, which forced him to park up and retire from the action.
Explaining his issues at Zandvoort, Hamilton has revealed that Ferrari carried out a throughout investigation that discovered a series of factors that led to his crash.
"There were several things that contributed: for example, we had a downgraded upshift, which locked the rear wheels and spat the rear end out.
"Also, it was spitting and so I was maybe 10 millimetres or 10 centimetres wider than the previous lap.
"So, a combination of things. Either way, it’s not great, but I learn from it and move forward. If I apply that same approach this weekend and the following races, I feel positive about the direction we’re going."
