Lewis Hamilton described his debut year with Ferrari as “the worst season ever” after struggling through another difficult Grand Prix weekend in Las Vegas.
Qualifying saw Hamilton eliminated in 20th place in wet conditions, and he started 19th after Yuki Tsunoda took a new power unit and dropped to the pit lane. Despite a strong first lap and eventually crossing the line 10th – promoted to eighth by the postrace McLaren disqualifications – Hamilton was extremely downbeat at how the weekend panned out.
“Terrible,” Hamilton told Sky Sports. “It’s been the worst season ever. No matter how much I try it keeps getting worse. [I’m] trying everything, in and out of the car.”
Describing his climb through the field as “the most meaningless 10 places, it doesn’t mean anything”, Hamilton later explained his pace had been hampered by damage after contact with Alex Albon.
“A horrendous weekend. Another one. Just to add to the list,” he said. “I really struggled. After the start, I struggled with balance. I was really struggling with the brakes that we have. Locking the fronts, locking the rears. There was just no in between. No middle ground.
“I was catching [Nico] Hulkenberg, but at the slowest pace. So I wasn’t really particularly quick. Then I got some damage, I think, with the Williams and then everything changed after that.
“I didn’t even know [Albon got a penalty]. I just noticed the balance shift afterwards – I didn’t even know we touched.”
Things went from bad to worse for Hamilton after a mid-race clash with Albon. Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images
Hamilton’s struggles coincide with a tough couple of weekends overall for Ferrari, but team principal Fred Vasseur says the outright performance has been on display on a number of occasions.
“It’s true on the mathematical side, the last couple of weekends were very difficult with Brazil, and this one … but overall I think Mexico, Austin, were probably also the best weekends of Lewis in terms of pure performance,” Vasseur said. “But now it’s true for the team also, we didn’t put everything together the last couple of weekends, and that’s why on the mathematical side and in the championship we did a huge step down; but in terms of pure performance, I think he’s aware we are not in such a bad shape.
“I can understand the reaction from Lewis, when we are just after the race, but he’ll come down to discuss it and to be focused on the next two, because the next two he will be back. And keep in mind that Lewis was there in FP1 and FP3, and the pace was good. We have to build up the weekend like this – and if we start from 20th, it’s not the best way.”