Hamilton OUT after CRAZY US GP start brings out safety car

EARLY REPORT: Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton has butchered his chances at the 2024 US Grand Prix with a crash in the early stages of the race.

The 39-year-old holds the record for the most wins around COTA but will not be adding another to his name after bringing out a safety car with an accident at Turn 18.

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The seven-time champion got off to a strong start initially, progressing from P17 to P12, but beached his Mercedes in the gravel, the incident marking the first time the British star has failed to finish a grand prix in Austin.

Championship contender Lando Norris got off fairly well from pole position but failed to defend against Max Verstappen, the pair too focused on their own battle into the first corner, leading to the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc taking the lead on the first lap as a result.

How did Lando Norris lose his US GP lead?

The race in Austin presents another example of Norris failing to convert his pole position into a successful start, a weakness of his that had appeared to have been fixed after he led the Singapore GP on every lap for the first time in his career last month.

Perhaps hyper-focused on his own battle with Verstappen and McLaren's charge against Red Bull in the constructors' championship, the papaya, piloted by the 24-year-old left a gap wide open around the first corner.

Critical of the championship hopeful's error, Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle declared: "He had it covered but just didn’t cover it enough.

"Just not aggressive enough, he really needed to close Max off and that then left them scuffling amongst themselves and Leclerc, in particular, filled his boots."

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