The Mercedes driver ploughed into the gravel at Turn 6 in the closing stages of the 90-minute session after losing front-end downforce.
“I had separation of the front splitter, so it was pushed right up underneath and touching the underneath of the chassis,” said Hamilton.
“I lost a lot of front end. I went into Turn 6, turned in and nothing really happened, I just went straight on.
“I was complaining of shed-loads of understeer as I was beginning my long run. I came in and asked for three holes in the front wing, which is quite a lot.
“As they did that, they changed tyres and I went back out. I was braking, turned in and it just didn’t turn.
“I thought to myself, ‘what an idiot’, but when I got back they explained to me that the front of the bib underneath the chassis was broken.”
Hamilton admitted that the damage might have been caused when he took a bite of the gravel earlier in the session.
But he was relieved that there was no more significant damage to the car.
“Potentially, it was when I went wide,” he said when asked about the cause of the damage.
“Thankfully, nothing was really damaged [in the off]. It’s an easy fix.”
Hamilton ended the session in seventh, 0.864 seconds off the pace, but Nico Rosberg gave a clearer indication of the potential of the Mercedes by lapping third fastest, just four-tenths off pacesetter Sebastian Vettel.
“We are not massively off the Red Bulls, which is incredible and shows what a great job all the guys back in the factory have done,” said Hamilton.
“There have been a couple of issues, which we are going to work hard to fix, but I don’t think it’s anything that we can’t.
“I wasn’t expecting to be as competitive as we were, that’s a huge plus.
“It’s too early to say that we are best of the rest but we are definitely up there. I’m massively happy.”
AUTOSPORT Australian GP coverage:
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