It speaks volumes about the standards Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton sets for himself that making up eight positions to finish second at the Las Vegas Grand Prix was a frustrating result rather than a good one.
Lewis Hamilton is entering the final weeks of his time with Mercedes after creating the most successful partnership in the history of Formula 1.
Fourteen titles – six individual and eight constructors – have been won in the past 12 seasons by the 39-year-old and the Brackley-based outfit, but everything in F1 has to come to an end eventually.
Hamilton will be teaming up with Charles Leclerc at Ferrari next season and a new challenge will hopefully invigorate a driver who barely had the chance to compete for victories over the past three seasons.
Unfortunately, a mistake he made at the Las Vegas Grand Prix denied him the chance to try and add another win to his tally before departing for pastures new.
A report from BBC Sport has shared more details as to why Mercedes think Hamilton has struggled so much in qualifying this season after having to settle for a 10th-place start in Sin City.
Why is Lewis Hamilton struggling so much in qualifying this season?
Mercedes were unexpectedly fast in Las Vegas and topped every practice session before both drivers made it into Q3.
George Russell put his car on pole, but Hamilton made mistakes on both of his flying laps and had to settle for P10.
At the beginning of the weekend, Hamilton said: “If the team give us a car that doesn’t want to throw itself off, I will have a good weekend.”
However, after qualifying, he was in a much more sombre mood and explained: “The car was feeling great today, and it has been a good weekend up to the final segment of Qualifying.
“I was quickest in Q2 but unfortunately, I had two bad laps in Q3 and that left us P10.
“The conditions were still good, but I didn’t get the job done. It’s really disappointing as we definitely had the pace for pole position today.”
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Hamilton has lacked confidence in the rear of his Mercedes all season, although that issue has existed throughout this era of F1.
The report from Andrew Benson suggests that the ‘feeing’ is that Hamilton is ‘pushing too hard’ during the ‘final moments of qualifying’.
Unfortunately, the current ground effect cars don’t respond well to a more aggressive driving style, something Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso has also experienced.
Drivers are therefore racing within themselves as being smooth is more important than being on the edge all the time.
Lewis Hamilton facing a battle against Formula 1’s best qualifier at Ferrari next season
The current Mercedes car requires higher tyre temperatures than some of their rivals due to a weakness they have through slow corners.
This is something Hamilton has struggled to deal with more than Russell, which is why he’s 17-5 down in qualifying this season.
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Martin Brundle believes Charles Leclerc is F1’s best qualifier and that could be a problem for Hamilton next year.
Ferrari will be expecting to be in the mix to win both championships next year.
If Leclerc is consistently starting ahead of Hamilton, then he’s likely to be prioritised when it comes to strategy.
The 2025 campaign is expected to be closer than ever and losing that advantage would be a big blow for Hamilton.
