Toto Wolff's theory for Lewis Hamilton’s F1 qualifying woes

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes Lewis Hamilton is struggling to get to grips with the current-generation of F1 cars, rather than losing his speed.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton’s disappointing run of qualifying performances continued at the Qatar Grand Prix as he set a lap only good enough for sixth on the grid, 0.436 seconds slower than teammate George Russell, who starts from pole for the second weekend in a row.

Hamilton issued a damning verdict that he is “definitely not fast anymore” after qualifying seventh for the Qatar sprint race on Friday, though he later rowed back on those comments, insisting he has “still got it”.

"Just the car won't go any faster," Hamilton said after Saturday’s regular qualifying. “I definitely know I've got it still. It's not a question in my mind.”

Hamilton, who holds the record for the most poles in F1 with 104, has been out-qualified by Russell 22-6 in all qualifying sessions (including sprint events) this season.

"I'm slow," he added. "I'm half a second off my team-mate in the same car. It wasn't a tricky session. My laps were pretty decent, just half a second off.

"I set my car up a little bit different today and honestly the car felt great. It is the first time we have made a set-up change and the car felt good.

"My laps are generally really good and I come across the line and that’s half a second down.”

Wolff backing for Hamilton

Wolff, who recently clarified comments he made about Hamilton’s “shelf-life” in a new book, is convinced the 39-year-old Briton has not lost his edge.

“I’m certain that it’s not true,” Wolff told F1 TV after qualifying in Qatar.

“It’s just this generation of cars, particularly how the car is now. It’s just something that he likes, he’s a late braker, he carries a lot of speed on the entry to the corner and the car doesn’t take it. You can see him inking out, taking more and more time intellectually, and trying to find more performance.

“We need to give him a car that’s to his liking. He’s very team-oriented, doesn’t say anything, but he’s not happy with the car.”

Wolff’s suggestion echoes comments made by Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin earlier this year.

“Early on, perhaps Lewis was finding that the car more difficult to deal with,” Shovlin said at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

"George has always set a very high bar in qualifying. And as soon as he was in F1, he was impressing. Even in the Williams, he was doing some pretty impressive qualifying sessions, so we know that he's very quick,” he explained.

"Lewis hasn't disguised the fact that Saturdays were his tough day. He's struggled with this whole generation of car, really, not suiting his style.

"He's been working on how he drives. But we had a huge amount of work trying to get the car to be quicker - it just hasn't been quick enough - but also with a handling balance that the drivers can actually attack the lap on Saturday.”