AUSTIN – Lewis Hamilton qualified 19th for Sunday's United States Grand Prix and complained his car was “pretty terrible” to drive after Mercedes was forced to make vehicle changes.

Hamilton was sixth in Saturday's sprint race before being eliminated in the first qualifying session for Sunday's race.

The seven-time world champion said his car never felt right after a problem early in the sprint.

“It was pretty terrible,” Hamilton said. “The car felt great yesterday, so of course I was very optimistic for today. Literally something failed in the front suspension as we left the finish line on the formation lap and I had that the whole race.”

“So they figured that out and changed the curve. And of course in qualifying it felt like a mess.”

Hamilton said he will use the spirit of his younger self to try to make a difference.

“There won't be much going on. I started in karting with a pretty bad go-kart and always got through the field, so I’ll see if I can do that tomorrow.”

He added: “Yesterday we were suddenly moving very quickly. I don't know where this led. But we will keep pushing.”

After qualifying, Hamilton said he wanted to start from the pit lane so the team could change its setup before the start of the race.

Mercedes teammate George Russell crashed in qualifying and ended practice early.