Las Vegas – Lewis Hamilton admitted that the race took his luck to the lowest point, saying “can’t get much worse than that” after he crossed his career low by qualifying the slowest car in F1. His season with Ferrari had already been a “nightmare” after the team’s double DNF in São Paulo, and the outcome in Las Vegas only deepened the woes.
Despite showing strong pace in practice, rain and a damp track turned qualifying into a nightmare for Hamilton. He was unable to find traction and ended up at the back of the grid. After his Q1 exit he explained, “I just don’t really have words for it. It’s obviously not good enough, and I didn’t have any — I couldn’t get any temperature into the tyres. I just had a lot of understeer, and then I think one of my front brakes was glazed, so I was really struggling to stop in the corners.”
The result marked a troubling milestone for the seven‑time World Champion and was the first time a Ferrari had qualified the slowest since the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In the dry final practice Hamilton showed encouraging speed, finishing fifth fastest.
Speaking about the wet drop‑off, he added, “It’s very annoying, of course, because I felt in (FP3) that the car was feeling awesome. Honestly, I thought it was going to be a great day, but it’s turned out to be the worst. So it obviously can’t get much worse than that.”
After Q1 there was confusion about whether Hamilton had crossed the line in time for an extra push, and he told Sky Sports F1, “I had to have a lift, and when I came to the line, it was red.” He also seemed to hit a loose cone during the session—an incident that may have irritated his pace.
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