Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton admitted “I’m definitely not fast anymore” following a disappointing performance in sprint qualifying ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix. The 39-year-old will start the sprint race in seventh position after finishing 0.4 seconds behind McLaren ace Lando Norris, who took pole.
Hamilton also trailed his team-mate George Russell by a similar margin, with the former Williams driver set to begin Saturday’s sprint from the front row.
The seven-time world champion has only got the better of Russell in one of the six sprint qualifying sessions this year and has only posted a faster lap than him in five of the 17 main qualifying sessions.
Hamilton spoke to F1 TV after sprint qualifying had come to an end in the Middle East. And he explained: “Same as every other quali, not that great. I’m just slow. Same every weekend. So… yeah, car felt relatively decent, no issues, not really much more to say.”
He was then quizzed about his chances in the sprint race and replied: “The long run didn’t feel too bad but when you’re always back where I am it makes it almost impossible pretty much to be competing for wins from there.
“But that’s the sprint, I’ll do what I can tomorrow. The positive is the car is fast. And George should be able to shoot for pole tomorrow.”
And after being told the underwhelming qualifying performances “can’t be a you thing”, Hamilton exclaimed: “Who knows. I’m definitely not fast anymore.”
Hamilton’s comments could concern Ferrari chiefs, with the Mercedes ace set to join the Scuderia at the end of the season as he searches for a record eighth world title.
Ferrari are currently locked in a battle with McLaren for this season’s Constructors’ Championship title and will be looking to kick-on again next year after naming Hamilton and Charles Leclerc as their driving team.
Meanwhile, former F1 star Romain Grosjean believes the dynamic between Hamilton and Leclerc could be hard to navigate anyway.
“Charles is kind of the kids that they saw growing up there. So it’s not going to be easy to manage,” Grosjean told talkSPORT.
“Charles wants his chance to be world champion, and then Lewis wants the chance to get that eighth world championship that he should probably have had [already].
But Grosjean then conceded: “Lewis could have made the right move at the right time, for sure, joining Fred Vasseur at Ferrari. Ferrari’s definitely a team to keep an eye on – and they’re definitely on the rise for next year, which could be super exciting.”