Lewis Hamilton has said he is “definitely not fast any more” after another disappointing qualifying performance in his final season at Mercedes.
Hamilton’s comments came after he qualified seventh for the sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix.
The seven-time champion, who is joining Ferrari next season, was 0.399 seconds slower than team-mate George Russell, who will start the sprint race second behind McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Hamilton said: “Same as every other qualifying – not that great.
“I’m just slow. Same every weekend. Car felt relatively decent. You know, no issues. Not really much more to say.”
Hamilton is the all-time record holder for pole positions in F1, with 104. The next closest is fellow seven-time champion Michael Schumacher on 68.
But after being closely matched in qualifying with Russell over their previous two seasons together, Hamilton has out-qualified his team-mate only six times across all competitive qualifying sessions in 22 races, including six sprint events.
