The wet Qualifying of the F1 Las Vegas GP came with surprises and shocks. Lewis Hamilton failing to reach Q2 being one of them, as the seven-time World Champion is set to line up P20 for the Las Vegas GP.
Hamilton excited that Ferrari would have a good day
While the practice sessions showed promising pace for the Scuderia team, Qualifying told a different story. As Alex Albon found the wall on the exit of Turn 16, the yellow flags came out once again. Hamilton had just begun a new lap but with low temperature and horrible grip, the Ferrari driver was unable to improve. This marks the first time in his career that the former Champion starts last on pure pace.
After the hectic Qualifying session concluded, Hamilton spoke about it in the print media pen. When asked if the session had as bad of grip he has ever seen in his 18 years in Formula 1, the Ferrari driver responded:
“Probably yeah, definitely. I couldn’t get the temperature in the tyres working.
“The car was feeling great in FP3 and I was really, really excited that finally we’d have a good day, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
He had been the fastest with the McLarens in damp but better conditions in the first half of FP3.
As bad as it gets
Hamilton continued on to be asked if he knew that he was not safe during his final lap, in which he responded:
“I wasn’t aware, no.”
The 40-year-old then explained the tricky situation leading to the horrible Qualifying result, stating:
“I had a yellow flag in the last corner and then going into Turn 17, there was a yellow flag, so I had to lift. Came across the line, it was red. But I didn’t have the grip anyway so I don’t think it would have made much difference.”
During his lap there was confusion as to if Hamilton had crossed the line with enough time to push one more time. When asked how bad the conditions were out on track, as it is seldom that the full wet tyres are used, the Ferrari driver responded:
“It was as bad as it gets. I couldn’t see anything. I think I hit the bollard at one point, but I just couldn’t even see the corners.”
Hamilton: “This year is definitely the hardest year”
The seven-time World Champion has not had the easiest first year at the Ferrari team. What Hamilton had described as a “childhood dream” quickly turned into a nightmare for the experienced driver. He has yet to achieve his first podium in red. The driver currently sits sixth in the Drivers’ Standings with 148 points and three races to go.
When asked about his feelings after the tough Qualifying session, the former Champion candidly expressed:
“Obviously, it feels horrible. It doesn’t feel good. But all I can do is just let it go by and try and come back tomorrow. I’ve done everything I possibly could do in terms of preparation, in terms of getting all the practice sessions we had today, it was amazing until the end.
“I just didn’t get a lap at the end but I felt like we were quickest. And then you come out of qualifying 20th. This year is definitely the hardest year.“
Despite the challenging conditions and let down today, Hamilton remains adamant that they have a good car for tomorrow’s race, stating:
“We’ll try tomorrow, I think we’ve got a really good car. It’ll be really, really hard to come back from 20th.”
