Lewis Hamilton points to catalyst Sergio Perez in “shocking” verdict on Dutch GP

Lewis Hamilton described his qualifying for the Dutch Grand Prix as “shocking” and said everything went wrong after the incident with Sergio Pérez.

A moment's gap at Turn 9 during the first Q1 session at Zandvoort left Red Bull's Perez furious, as he felt Hamilton had got in his way despite going all the way to the left. “What the hell is that idiot doing?!” Perez vented his anger over team radio, adding: “I've been penalized for worse than that, so I expect nothing less.”

Lewis Hamilton complains about “shocking” qualifying for the Dutch GP

Additional reporting by Sam Cooper

Immediately after the session, the race management announced an investigation into possible obstruction by Hamilton, who was eliminated in Q2 on the first race weekend after the summer break.

“I really tried my best to get out of the way as much as possible. It just didn't work,” Hamilton told the media, including PlanetF1.com after his elimination from the qualification.

Key talking points after a dramatic qualifying session for the Dutch GP

👉 “Which meeting?” – Max Verstappen responds to Toto Wolff’s claim about the Mercedes summer

👉 F1 2024: Direct comparison of teammates in qualifying

Hamilton discussed this incident in detail when he spoke with Sky F1he called his qualifying “shocking” and claimed that after that Perez moment, things only went downhill.

“Yes, it was quite a shocking session,” he said.

“But these things happen. What can I say, now it's over. It definitely doesn't feel good.”

“From the moment the situation with Perez happened, everything went bad. I did my best to get out of the way. I was as far left as possible, but the timing was just bad.”

When asked if this had put him off his next lap, as he had been told that it had not been very clean, Hamilton replied: “It's probably a domino effect. From that moment on it just got worse.”

Before the race directors announce their verdict, Hamilton – who won at Spa last time out – will start the Dutch Grand Prix from P12, at Zandvoort, a track where overtaking is traditionally much more difficult than at Spa.

And Hamilton doesn't even think he has a chance of breaking into the top 10.

“It will probably be a struggle to get into the top 10,” Hamilton told media, including PlanetF1.com, when asked about his expectations for race day.

George Russell will lead Mercedes' charge from a podium position and is preparing to start the race from fourth place.

Read more – Dutch GP: Lando Norris storms to pole as Lewis Hamilton under investigation