sport news Lewis Hamilton is left frustrated once again after finishing in 18th place in ... trends now

How fortunes can change in the space of only a few hours.

On Saturday morning there was a smile the size of the Huangpu etched across Lewis Hamilton’s face after he claimed second in the first sprint race of the season in Shanghai. A moment of sweet relief amidst a season of setbacks for Mercedes and Hamilton.

A short while later and Hamilton was still, somehow, able to muster a grin.

But this time his expression did not tell the full story of what had just unfolded in qualifying for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix as Hamilton failed to make it out of Q1 for the first time since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2022.

The finger of blame cannot be pointed solely at the car for Hamilton’s showing. Not this time.

Instead it was driver error that sees Hamilton start a race he has won more times than any other driver from 18th. Yes, do not adjust your TV sets. 18th.

Toto Wolff's reaction told the full story. Mercedes' team boss sank back into his chair and gazed into the heavens after watching what had unfolded.

On his final opportunity to make it into Q2 and with the wind swirling around the twisting corners and long straights of this circuit, Hamilton overshot it at the hairpin turn 14.

That misjudgement proved to be a fatal one. And with that, the seven-time world champion's day was over.

‘I couldn’t make it around 14. I lost it at 14,' said Hamilton, who has now failed to qualify inside the top six in the last eight races.

‘We made massive changes going into qualifying, we wanted to experiment. George decided to go one way, much different to what we had because we both had pretty much the same before.

‘I went this other direction just to see if we could find something. It didn’t feel terrible but I just couldn’t stop the car at 14.

‘When I was making the setup changes, I was like “it can’t get any worse, surely”… and it did. S*** happens.’