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Lewis Hamilton’s qualifying struggles in Formula 1 continued at the United States Grand Prix after he was dramatically knocked out in Q1.

The Mercedes driver had left it late in the first qualifying segment to try to get through to Q2, but it all went wrong as he failed to produce the lap time needed.

While he was slightly up on the cutoff point in the first sector, it all went wrong under braking for Turn 12 at the end of the back straight.

He appeared to run deep and, as he struggled to get the car turned in, he suffered some snap oversteer on the exit.

His second sector time ended up being half a second adrift of what team-mate George Russell did – and left him in the drop zone.

As a number of other drivers improved in the closing stages of Q1, Hamilton ended up 19th overall at the end – less than one tenth of a second ahead of Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu.

Hamilton’s Q1 exit was his first since the Chinese Grand Prix when he ended up 18th on the grid, and is his worst qualifying result of the 2024 campaign.

More to follow

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Ryan Blaney, who is hoping to become the first back-to-back champion in the era of the knockout-style format, will start from the rear of the field on Sunday.

After a get-up-to-speed lap, Blaney’s first true flying lap in practice ended in the outside wall. As the No. 12 Team Penske Ford barreled off into Turn 1, the left-rear tire went down as he bounced over the bumps. The car immediately spun around and slammed the outside wall, driver-side first.

Blaney radioed that “I had no warning” after the impact. “My head hurts,” he added before climbing from the damaged car. Thankfully, he was checked and released from the infield care center soon after.

“I’m alright,” Blaney told NBC Sports. “Just blew a tire into Turn 1. Just stinks. I didn’t feel anything odd down the front stretch. Just a shame it ended our practice early and we got our work cut out for us with a backup car. Hopefully we’ll be able to fight back from it and go to work tomorrow.”

He continued: “It’s definitely a lot to overcome, for sure. Starting in the back and no laps with this backup car … I have confidence that hopefully we can make some hay tomorrow and do it early. You know, try to get up through there. So yeah, it sets us back a little bit but this team — they thrive under that type of pressure. Happy to be with a group like that. Unfortunate situation we’re in but we’ll claw our way through.

As a result of the wreck, Blaney will not take part in qualifying and will have to start Sunday’s race in 37th. As Blaney indicated, he will also go to a backup car. He officially completed one lap in practice, but at 171.652mph, it was about two seconds off the pace.

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Ott Tanak says helping Hyundai win the World Rally Championship manufacturers’ title remains his priority despite provisionally reducing team-mate Thierry Neuville‘s drivers’ points lead at the Central European Rally.

Tanak headed into the WRC’s penultimate round 29 points adrift of Neuville, knowing his team-mate could claim a maiden world title if he outscored him by two points.

Neuville was on course to do that, having led the rally until stage 11, when two off-road excursions dropped the Belgian to fourth, while Tanak ended the day in second, 5.2s adrift of leader Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier.

Prior to Neuville’s mistake, Tanak had closed to within 0.8s of his team-mate after winning stage nine.

Tanak revealed at the midday service that his speed prompted messages reminding him of the risks at stake in regards to the manufacturers’ title battle from the Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul, who is keen to deliver the Korean marque’s first title since 2020.

However, under the new points system for this year, Tanak stands to take at least five points out of Neuville’s lead if he finishes the rally, which could ensure the title battle will go down to season finale in Japan next month.

The points margin between the drivers could fluctuate again on Sunday with 12 points on offer under the Super Sunday format.

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

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Despite the possible points swing, the 2019 world champion says the drivers’ title is not his main focus, and that protecting Hyundai’s 17-point lead over Toyota is the main objective.

“Tomorrow we still need to keep pushing as we have done so far, and it is important to score points tomorrow,” said Tanak.

“The manufacturers’ title is so open it is really my first priority. The drivers’ title is still up to Thierry and what he wants to do with that. The Toyotas are so fast at the moment I need to manage with them.”

While disappointed by the mistakes that cost him valuable championship points, Neuville says his plan for Sunday is to push for Super Sunday points to bolster his title hopes.

Neuville could still lift the title on Sunday although it is highly likely he will need Tanak to have a problem.

“There was a chance for a better result today but it could have been worse. We didn’t expect to be in the lead after the first day of a rally that we didn’t need to win, but the rhythm was there and the car was working well,” said Neuville.

“Today was more challenging and a small mistake in the recce [when making pacenotes] cost important seconds in the fight for victory. We lost a few positions but we are still in the race.

Thierry Neuville, Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

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“I think we have to drive fast [on Sunday] and take the maximum points, but we definitely need to bring the car home.”

Wary of the team’s position in the manufacturers’ title battle, Abiteboul has set a target for Neuville on Sunday.

“If Thierry does it [wins the drivers’ title on Sunday], it would probably mean something bad would have to happen to Ott and that is not what I wish for right now,” said Abiteboul.

“I think the target for Thierry will be to get at least 30 points ahead of Seb [Ogier in the championship], and if he can do that we will be in a decent position to manage the drivers’ title in Japan.”