According to Sky Sports Formula One analyst Anthony Davidson, Lewis Hamilton’s spin in the opening phase of the sprint qualifiers at Belgian Grand Prix may not have been a result of a driver error.
Hamilton was on the final flying lap at SQ1, trapped at bus stop Chicane and spun into the outflow area.
Once the session was over before he recovered, the Ferrari driver was unable to escape the elimination and placed 18th on the grid of Saturday’s sprint.
Hamilton, who appeared to be disappointed in a short TV interview, said it was the first time in his career that he had locked up a rear tire in that way. However, after considering the incident on Skypad, Davidson insisted that the seven-time world champion was not responsible.
A technical explanation like Lewis Hamilton spins at the spa
Lewis Hamilton
Davidson highlighted how rare the rear lockup is in modern F1 cars, suggesting that the spin is caused by a combination of factors, including heavy braking and the car’s behavior under downshifts.
“Yes, there was a rear lock (Hamilton) confirmed that,” Davidson explained on Sky. “The backlash in the gearbox causes a backlash when you try to desperately downshift when it is locked.
“It’s dissatisfied with getting out of the order, and that’s what ultimately made him spin.
“He blames the rear locking happening. The driver is clearly controlling the brake bias inside the vehicle.
“It’s bumpy in that corner. That car has massive downforce at those speeds, so it’s not affected by those bumps. At close to 200 miles, the car is close to maximum downforce.
“When you enter the brake pedal, you pitch it into the car. The rear pops up slightly. It lowers the rear.
“You lose a bit of mechanical grip in the rear, which means you get weight transfer to the front, which is when the rear becomes fragile under the brakes.
“Combined with downshifts, we are looking for more torque in the gearbox under each downshift request.
“It could trigger an extra rear lock. You can always see it on the bike.”
Lewis Hamilton escaped responsibility for Ferrari Spin
Davidson said Hamilton may now think he was negligent, but he will better understand what happened after looking at the data.
“It’s amazing how he is responsible for that,” the winner of the 2014 World Endurance Championship said.
“Maybe if he is listening…by the time he reaches the data and works with the engineers, he may feel differently.
“But at this point he is a bit oppressed and he is beating himself over that.
“He’ll obviously see that there’s a rear lock. There’s very little that a driver can do with these digital cars, unless he’s reckless.
“They’re computers on the wheels. These things. Even if he said that, the car turned him to some extent.”
Skye’s colleague, Naomi Schiff, warned that he was reading too much of Hamilton’s post-session statement.
“There’s an annoying collision in the brake zone. If it had been fixed, I don’t know. That might have helped.
“I don’t know if I read Lewis said he was ‘responsible’.
“Ferrari has this approach that doesn’t want anyone to be held accountable. I don’t know if that’s how Lewis says, ‘We need to look into it.’
“He didn’t want to point his fingers.
“I think he deflected because he said, ”It’s never happened to him in his career.” ”