Vasseur blames Hamilton for the controversial mishap in sprint qualifying

A clearly dejected Lewis Hamilton appeared in front of the cameras after the end of the sprint qualifying session, having been incredibly knocked out in SQ1.

The Briton locked up the rear tyres at the Bus Stop chicane, lost control of the car and spun out. From that point on, there was nothing more he could do — elimination was inevitable.

However, while Martin Brundle blamed the incident on a rear axle failure on the SF-25, Frederic Vasseur appeared more inclined to consider it a driver mistake.

''I think I have to watch the session again,'' the Frenchman told Canal+ when analyzing what happened.

Words echoed by Peter Windsor, who also believes it was a driver error: 'I've never seen Lewis do something like that, I mean he probably has but I can't remember a time when he's done something just as basic as that.''

Hamilton will start today from third-to-last position, hoping that rain might shake things up and give him a chance to fight his way back up the field.