Experts explain: What caused Lewis Hamilton spin - and why it’s not his fault

Lewis Hamilton’s spin during the opening phase of sprint qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix may not have been the result of driver error, according to Sky Sports F1 analyst Anthony Davidson.

Hamilton was on his final flying lap in SQ1 when he locked up going into the Bus Stop Chicane and spun into the run-off area. 

With the session ending before he could recover, the Ferrari driver could not escape elimination, ending up a distant 18th on the grid for Saturday’s sprint.

Appearing dejected in a brief TV interview, Hamilton said it was the first time in his career he had locked up the rear tyres in such a way. But after reviewing the incident on the SkyPad, Davidson argued that the seven-time world champion was not to blame.

Technical explanation as Lewis Hamilton spins at Spa

Davidson highlighted how rare rear lock-ups are in modern F1 cars and suggested the spin was caused by a combination of factors, including the car's behaviour under heavy braking and downshifting.

“Yes, there was rear lock, [Hamilton] confirmed that,” Davidson explained on Sky. “It causes the backlash in the gearbox as you desperately try to downshift as it’s locked.

“It gets unhappy with that getting out of sequence. That’s what ultimately spun him around.

“He is taking the blame for the rear locking happening. The driver is obviously in control of the brake bias within the car, as well.

“It is bumpy, in that corner. That car is less affected by those bumps because they’ve got massive downforce at those speeds. Close to 200mph, the car is close to its maximum downforce.

“Once you are into the brake pedal, you pitch into the car. The rear pops up slightly. That unloads the rear.

“You lose a bit of mechanical grip through the rear, that’s why you get a weight transfer to the front. That’s when the rear becomes vulnerable under braking.

“Combine it with downshifts and you are asking more torque in the gearbox, under each downshift request.

“That can trigger extra rear locking. You see it on motorbikes all the time.”

Lewis Hamilton absolved of blame for Ferrari spin

Davidson said while Hamilton may currently think he was at fault, he would have a better understanding of what had happened once he has looked at the data.

“It is surprising that he is taking the blame for that,” said the 2014 World Endurance Championship winner.

“Maybe if he listens back… by the time he gets to the data, and works with the engineers, he might feel differently.

“But at the moment he is a bit downtrodden, and he is beating himself up about it.

“He will clearly see there is rear locking. It is hard for a driver to cause that unless you have been reckless. There is little the driver can do in these digital cars that they drive to make the thing lock up.

“They are computers on wheels, these things. No matter what he says, the car spun him around, to a certain degree.”

Sky colleague Naomi Schiff also cautioned against reading too much into Hamilton’s post-session remarks.

“There is an annoying bump in the braking zone there. I don’t know, with the resurfacing, if it fixed it. That could have helped it.

“I don’t know if I read what Lewis said as ‘taking the blame’.

“Ferrari have this approach where they don’t want to put the blame on anyone. I don’t know if that’s Lewis’ way of saying ‘we need to look into it’.

“He didn’t want to point the finger.

“He did say ‘it has never happened to him in his career’ so I think that was him deflecting."