Lewis Hamilton had ‘no confidence in the car’ in latest qualifying woe

Lewis Hamilton says he had no confidence in his Mercedes F1 car as he slumped to another disappointing qualifying performance at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion was eliminated in SQ2 and could only qualify 11th-fastest for Saturday’s sprint race at Interlagos as he struggled to tame his bouncing W15 throughout Friday.

A disappointed Hamilton gave a particularly blunt verdict on his latest qualifying woe in Brazil, ending up five places behind teammate George Russell. 

“Pretty bad, it’s the same as every qualifying for me,” Hamilton said.  “Not happy about it but I just don’t have any confidence in the car. A big struggle for me.”

Hamilton was heard complaining about being in pain at the end of Friday’s sole practice session and was critical of the resurfacing works carried out at Interlagos.

“The ride was pretty bad on the track for everyone,” he explained. “The track has been resurfaced and they’ve not done a particularly great job. It’s bumpy for everyone.

“P1 was like Baku 2022 for us down the straight. It was hitting so hard. So we did lift the car, it was a little bit better in terms of it wasn’t hitting the deck so badly.

“So I wasn’t in pain or anything like that but through corners the thing is hopping. The thing is very hard to drive.”

And Hamilton was downbeat about his chances for the remainder of the weekend, adding: “It is what it is, it will be what it will be. I’m not massively bothered if I’m honest.

“If I can move forwards in the sprint, great. I’ll try again in qualifying too. Make some changes to the car and see what we can do.”