Hamilton in X-RATED admission after Mercedes failure

Lewis Hamilton suffered a disastrous day at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Friday's Sprint Qualifying saw Lando Norris steal the show with a controversial pole position. Initially, Hamilton looked set to inherit the top spot after Norris' lap was deleted for exceeding track limits.

READ MORE: F1 Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying Results: Hamilton embarrassed as Verstappen dominates

However, a late steward's reversal handed the McLaren driver his second career Sprint pole, with Hamilton starting in second.

Saturday's main event, the Sprint itself, offered some redemption for the Mercedes star as he successfully defended his second-place finish.

Yet the joy was short-lived. When it came to the pivotal qualifying session that determines the starting grid for Sunday's race, the seven-time champion suffered a devastating blow.

READ MORE: Hamilton reveals F1 retirement plans

Hamilton: 'S*** happens'

Hamilton's hopes for a strong Sunday were dashed in a shocking qualifying session that saw him fail to make it out of Q1 for the first time since the 2022 Saudi Arabia GP.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the session, Hamilton's voice carried a clear tone of disappointment.

"Struggled," he said, when asked about his session. "I made massive changes into qualifying. It wasn’t too bad in some places. I couldn’t stop in Turn 14. It is what it is."

Hamilton went on to explain the team's strategy for qualifying, revealing a gamble that eventually backfired.

"This morning George [Russell] and I had very similar cars but this afternoon we’re trying to experiment still with the car so I went one way a long way and he went the other way just to see if we could find anything.

"That’s what we need to do at the moment but it didn’t work. I’ll give it my best shot…18th is pretty bad. When I was making the set-up changes I was like ‘it can’t get any worse, surely’ and it did. S*** happens."

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