Lewis Hamilton spun out of the United States Grand Prix on just the third lap, ending a difficult weekend for the seven-time F1 World Champion.

Having been knocked out in Q1 on Saturday, Lewis Hamilton’s miserable weekend at the Circuit of the Americas ended with him in the gravel trap at Turn 19.

Starting the race from 17th on the grid, Hamilton opted for the hard tyre for his first stint in Austin.

Making a great start to end the first lap in 12th place, all the good work came undone on the third lap as Hamilton’s rear got loose through the left-hand Turn 19.

Similar to the incident in which Mercedes teammate George Russell crashed out of Q3 at the same corner, Hamilton was powerless to get the rear of the W15 back under control and ended up beached in the gravel.

Despondently climbing out of the cockpit, Hamilton slowly removed his kneepads as the race was neutralised under the Safety Car before withdrawing behind the barriers, having apologised to his team for losing control.

Lewis Hamilton explains race-ending spin in Austin

Speaking to media, including PlanetF1.com, following his retirement, Hamilton said that he wasn’t even in an attacking mode when he spun off.

“I had a great start. I was feeling good, and got to 12th,” he said.

“The best start, really, in Turn 1 that I’ve had in a long time. I wasn’t even pushing at that point, I was literally just trying to get the… starting to get going, obviously, trying to bring the tyres up to temperature.

“The car started bouncing. The left front started bouncing, and the rear end just came around, the same as George yesterday.

“In FP1, I had the same thing – I had the spin in Turn 3, which is so rare, like I’ve never spun in Turn 3 in all the years that I’ve been here, and I’ve never spun there before, either.

“So, as I say, George obviously had the same problem yesterday, and he’s gone back to the old spec car, and he’s looking good out there. So maybe there’s something with our new upgrade.

“We’ll investigate as much as we can. After today, we’ll get the data.”

Even if Hamilton had managed to stay facing the right way in that specific incident, Hamilton said he reckoned a spin was inevitable given the handling he was experiencing.

“If I didn’t have this bouncing stuff I think, if it didn’t happen that lap, it would have happened another lap coming up,” he said.

“Because something wasn’t quite right there with the car, and it’s been the same most of the weekend with this new package we have.

“So yeah, it’s obviously devastating, but it is what it is. We’ll get the data from today, and we’ll find out whether or not we’re going to be on the old or new spec next week.”