Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton and Esteban Ocon set to start from Pit lane after hefty grid penalty

Lewis Hamilton’s quest for a successful Azerbaijan Grand Prix has taken a major blow, as the seven-time world champion has been handed a grid penalty. It came due to another power unit (PU) issue with his Mercedes. Hamilton, who originally qualified in seventh place, will now start from the pit lane after Mercedes decided to fit a fifth power unit of the season into his W15 car—exceeding the permitted PU changes for the year.

This penalty comes at a difficult time for Mercedes and Hamilton, especially after what seemed like a promising start to the weekend. Hamilton expressed his frustration with how the car felt on Saturday following qualifying, despite his earlier confidence.

“Yesterday the car was amazing; it felt great, and I honestly think it could have been at least second row today,” Hamilton said, reflecting on his earlier sessions. However, he noticed a stark difference on qualifying day, particularly with tyre performance. “The tyres didn’t work all day,” Hamilton noted, emphasizing how critical tyre management is in Formula 1.

What did Lewis Hamilton say about his qualifying performance?

Hamilton went on to explain how tyre issues plagued his entire qualifying session. “When you get the tyres working, everything falls into place, like with Williams suddenly being up there,” he explained. Despite his best efforts, Hamilton struggled with getting his tyres into the proper operating window, which cost him significant time—particularly in the early parts of the lap.

He said, “Every single Saturday I’ve lost at least half a second, to a second, and today I lost a second compared to yesterday.” Meanwhile, Hamilton will be joined by Alpine driver Esteban Ocon in the pit lane as he is also suffering a grid penalty for excessive use of Power Units. With this, some drivers will see a rise in starting position, especially Lando Norris. McLaren driver initially finished 17th but now will start from 15thposition.