Lewis Hamilton labelled his debut Ferrari campaign the “worst season ever” after finishing 10th at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
After qualifying at the back-of-the-grid in Vegas – for the first time on pure pace in his F1 career – the 40-year-old British driver jumped up to 12th early on but eventually finished 10th, scoring one solitary point.
Despite the recovery drive, Hamilton was still despondent in the media pen afterwards following a difficult fortnight, with a retirement at the last round in Brazil and criticism from Ferrari chairman John Elkann to “talk less and focus on driving.”
Asked how he felt after finishing 10th in Vegas, Hamilton said: “I feel terrible, terrible. It’s been the worst season ever.
“No matter how much I try, it keeps getting worse. I’m trying everything, in and out of the car.”
Max Verstappen won the race in Vegas, with pole-sitter Lando Norris settling for second and George Russell in third. Norris, now with a 30-point lead on Oscar Piastri, can wrap up this year’s F1 title at the next round in Qatar.
Hamilton, who has not secured a podium all year, always faced an uphill battle on Saturday night given his starting position, yet avoided trouble at the first turn despite numerous collisions around him.
As for his teammate Charles Leclerc, the Monegasque finished sixth after starting ninth but, similarly, was downbeat afterwards.
“It’s not a good result - P6 is very disappointing,” he said. “It was probably my best performance of the season personally, very happy, but P6 is very frustrating.
“In the straights, we were losing a lot of speed. I was losing so much. I surprised some of our competitors in braking at turn 14 but when Oscar had the DRS, it was very difficult for me.”
Hamilton remains sixth in the world championship, with Leclerc in fifth. Mercedes teenager Kimi Antonelli, who replaced Hamilton at the Silver Arrows, now only trails by 17 points with two rounds remaining.
In qualifying on Saturday in Vegas, Hamilton was hindered on his final push lap due to yellow flags in the final sector and then thought he crossed the timed line on the start-finish straight too late to start another lap.
Slow-motion replays showed, however, that Hamilton actually could have started another push lap, as he crossed the line while the lights were still green.
The latest chapter in Hamilton’s year to forget arrived 11 days after he was told by Ferrari chairman John Elkann to “talk less and focus on his driving”. Prior to that, Hamilton described his debut season in red as a “nightmare.”
He has now been out-qualified by Leclerc 17 times this year and is 73 points behind the Monegasque in the drivers’ standings.
