Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc both retired from the previous race in Brazil two weeks ago [Getty Images]Andrew Benson - F1 Correspondent in Las VegasSat, November 22, 2025 at 7:12 AM UTC·2 min readLewis Hamilton said it "can't get much worse than that" after qualifying last for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The seven-time champion's performance was the first time he has been last on pure pace in his 19-year Formula 1 career.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHamilton lacked pace throughout in the wet, conditions in which he has scored some of his greatest victories, and ended up 2.301 seconds slower than team-mate Charles Leclerc in the first session.
It is another low for Hamilton in a first season at Ferrari that he described as "a nightmare" after he retired from the Sao Paulo Grand Prix two weeks ago.
Hamilton is yet to stand on the podium for Ferrari, although he did win the sprint race in China in March.
"I don't really have words for it," he said.
"It's obviously not good enough. I just couldn't get temperature into the tyres, had a lot of understeer and I think one of my front brakes was glazed so I was really struggling to stop it in the corners.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"It's very annoying, of course, because in P3 the car was feeling awesome and I thought it was going to be a great day and it turned out to be the worst. It can't get much worse than that."
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Hamilton had been fifth fastest in a third practice session that started wet but ended with the drivers on slick tyres.
But he was uncompetitive from the off in the wet conditions of qualifying, when extreme wet tyres were the right choice for both the first two sessions.
Trying to make up sufficient time on his final lap to make it through into the second session, he was also hindered by a yellow flag in the last sector, which meant he had to back off.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHe missed getting a final lap in because he crossed the line about a second after the chequered flag that brought the session to an end.
"I got yellow flags in the last corner and coming into Turn 17 there were yellow flags," Hamilton said, "so I had to have a lift and when I came to the line there was red.
"It was very slippery and the first set of tyres didn't work for us and I just struggled to generate the heat in the tyres for some reason.
"It's a shame because the guys have done such a great job and the car was feeling awesome in FP3 and I really felt like we had good pace, but then the rain came. There's not a lot to say, to be honest."
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