Hamilton in 's*** happens' outburst after huge China failure

Lewis Hamilton suffered a disastrous day at the Chinese Grand Prix after suffering a humiliating early exit from qualifying.

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 Qualifying Results: Chinese Grand Prix 2024 times - 100th Red Bull pole as Hamilton crashes out in Q1

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.

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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.

"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."

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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."

Russell will start Sunday's race from P8, while Hamilton faces a mountain to climb from 18th.

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