Lewis Hamilton States He Is ‘Definitely Not Fast Any More’ Following Qualifying Struggles

Lewis Hamilton, who is set to join Ferrari for the 2025 season, stated he is “definitely not fast any more” following another unsatisfactory qualifying result during his last season with Mercedes. These remarks followed his seventh-place qualification for the sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion, slated to move to Ferrari next season, recorded a time 0.399 seconds slower than his team-mate George Russell. Russell is scheduled to commence the sprint race from second position, trailing McLaren’s Lando Norris. Hamilton commented: “Same as every other qualifying – not that great.” He added, “I’m just slow. Same every weekend. Car felt relatively decent. You know, no issues. Not really much more to say.” Hamilton holds the all-time record for pole positions in Formula 1, with a total of 104. The next closest competitor is fellow seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, with 68. However, despite being closely matched with Russell in qualifying during their preceding two seasons as team-mates, Hamilton has surpassed his team-mate in qualifying on only six occasions across all competitive qualifying sessions in 22 races, which encompass six sprint events. Their head-to-head comparison stands at 5-17 in qualifying sessions, excluding those for sprint races. Russell’s average lap advantage throughout the season is 0.16 seconds. Prior to his partnership with Russell, Hamilton had never been out-qualified by a team-mate over the duration of their time together. When presented with the suggestion that the issue might not lie with him, Hamilton responded: “Who knows? I’m definitely not fast anymore.” The qualifying session held on Friday determined the starting grid for the sprint race in Qatar, scheduled to begin at 14:00 UK time on Saturday. An additional qualifying session will take place later that same day to establish the grid for the grand prix. Hamilton stated: “When you are always back where I am it makes it almost impossible to compete for wins from there. But that’s the sprint. I’ll do what I can tomorrow.” When questioned about any potential positives, Hamilton replied: “Not particularly. The positive is the car is fast and George should be able to shoot for pole tomorrow.” At Ferrari, Hamilton’s future team-mate will be Charles Leclerc, whom many within Formula 1 consider to be the sport’s fastest driver over a single lap.