Hamilton: There's something not right with this car

Hamilton's P11 meant the five-time winner at Yas Marina Circuit, did not make it into Q3, lameting "There's something not right with this car" as he made his way back to the pits.

Later added in the TV Pen, he was asked how it went, dejected the Mercedes driver replied: "Not great. Just struggling with balance. I don't have any answers. Honestly, at this point, it is what it is. We set our cars up the same but they don't read the same.

"There's something not right on our side. I'm sure we will dive into it but all weekend we have struggled with the car. Two 11ths...it takes some good going for me not to get into Q3, so I will try and move my way up."

Hamilton added in the Mercedes team report: The team here and back in the factory deserves a good result for the final race of the season so we will work hard as always and hopefully it will pay off and we can find improvements ahead of tomorrow.

The seven-time F1 World Champion and 103-time Grand Prix winner has not celebrated on the top step of a GP podium since Jeddah in 2021. Hamilton is amid the worst spell in his illustrious F1 career and Mercedes are set to go win-less in an F1 championship season for the first time since 2011.

Unless, of course, George Russell can weave some magic from P4 on Sunday. It was he who saved face for Mercedes and kept them in the hunt for at least a podium if they could find decent race pace at Yas Matina Circuit.

After the session in Abu Dhabi, Russell reported: "Mixed feelings right now, definitely would of taking P4 ahead of the weekend, but after this morning’s performance, we were quickest every single lap, we only improved six tenths from practice to qualifying."

"Considering it’s much colder, we had much less fuel in the car, we didn’t make the jump we should have, that was a little bit disappointing," admitted Russell.

In their battle for P2 in this year's F1 Constructors' Championship with Ferrari, Mercedes lead by four points. Charles Leclerc will start on the front row, alongside pole winner Max Verstappen's Red Bull.

But a little luck shone on Merc as Carlos Sainz was stranded in Q1, and will start behind Hamilton. So it's game on for the runner-up 2023 F1 trophy if there is such a thing. Better still the extra millions of dollars that come with the achievement.

Ahead of the race, Russell is aware of the stakes: “Well of course we have to fight with Ferrari for the constructors, but just going to treat it like any other race, I want to fight for the podium, I want to finish the season on a high.

"Obviously with Carlos down on P16 they are in a tricky position, but as I said treat it like a normal race and I think we’ll have good pace over the McLaren and over Charles so let's see where we fall out," added Russell.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff who shows signs of one who won too much too soon without ever learning how to lose, is struggling to contain himself as he watches Hamilton grapple with a difficult car, which they clearly do not understand, amid reports that the seven-time F1 World Champion was shopping around for a possible move not too long agoHorner: I’ve known Anthony Hamilton for many years….

Speaking after their below-par showing in Qualifying, after a strong showing in practice, Wolff told reporters: "FP3 was dominant. It just didn't come together. Probably that's what was in the car. Expectations were higher.

"I'm fed up with explaining why it didn't go well. We were good in the hot, we weren't in the cold. In previous days it has been the other way around. I'm happy this was the last qualifying of the season and we will come with a new car."

Asked about the 0.346s deficit between Hamilton in P11 and Russell in P4, Wolff ventured: "Just no grip. Contrary to George, pretty much all day."

As for the race, Wolff said in the team report: "It was a challenging session for all teams and the field is so close together, so we need to work hard overnight and give it our all tomorrow to end the season on a positive note and secure our position in the Constructor's Championship."

Mercedes trackside boss Andrew Shovlin summed up their Saturday: "George had a really solid run over the three practice sessions and it felt like we might have done a bit better than fourth today but it was a decent lap, just seemed that in the cooler conditions, we were lacking the strengths that we'd had on a hotter track.

"Lewis has had a difficult session, he sat out FP1 and only got three laps in due to the red flags in FP2 so was trying to fit low and high fuel work into the session this morning. That wasn't the best preparation for qualifying but hopefully, it will help him tomorrow.

"We've done decent long run work this weekend, plenty of laps and hopefully we have a good handle on how the tyres are going to work. Hopefully, we can have a strong race.

Mercedes need to outscore Ferrari by five points on Sunday to secure P2 in the 2023 F1 World Championship standings.

Notably, highlighting what a bad job both teams have done this year, their combined total points scored up until this weekend's Round 21 is 780, which is less than what Red Bull scored this season so far: 822 points!