Lewis Hamilton issues a three-word message on the team radio after a disastrous qualifying for the F1 Las Vegas GP
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was left dejected after qualifying in P10 at the Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying session on Friday night. The seven-time F1 world champion looked super competitive in the practice sessions throughout the weekend and was one of the favorites to get the pole position in Sin City.
After locking up and running to the escape road after the long DRS Straight in his first fast lap, Lewis Hamilton failed to catch the car in his second attempt heading into Turn 5 and lost all the momentum. He came on to the team radio to give a disappointing three-word reply, saying:
"That's it, guys."
The W15's ability to switch on the tires proved to be a key factor in its advantage over the weekend as Hamilton and Russell were neck-and-neck during qualifying. However, once again the 39-year-old failed to get the maximum out of his car in the Q3 session and could not register a meaningful lap in two attempts and finished in P10 while his teammate George Russell secured pole position
Lewis Hamilton analyzes his P10 from the Las Vegas GP qualifying session
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton accepted his result from the qualifying session and extended congratulations to his teammate, George Russell.
Speaking with Sky Sports, the 39-year-old previewed the race and hoped to make the best of the 'great' track conditions.
"It is what it is. It's been a good weekend so far so I'll give it my best shot tomorrow. Congrats to George. The conditions are great, it's nice and cool, it's been really nice all weekend. I'm really quite far back so I'll just see what I can do from there. Degradation is going to be key, they had an eventful race here last year."
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff felt that Lewis Hamilton made a mistake on his final run in the Q3 and said:
"Yeah, that's what it seems because I mean he was quickest in Q2, the car was good but we need to analyze what it was," Wolff said (1:12).
In 2023, Hamilton could only manage a P7 at this track but was ahead of his teammate Russell, who was carrying damage from his crash with Max Verstappen.