Hamilton: I'm definitely not fast anymore

The seven-time Formula 1 champion was once again outqualified by his teammate George Russell in the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint qualifying on Friday, where he qualified seventh while Russell was second, only 0.063s off pole.

It was a decent turnaround from Russell, as Mercedes did not seem to have the edge they enjoyed in Las Vegas one week earlier and took the fight to Lando Norris in the McLaren while Ferrari faltered and failed to reproduce the pace they showed in practice around the Lusail International Circuit.

But Hamilton failed to do the same in the sister car but was brave enough to shoulder the blame instead of giving the usual excuses racing drivers are so good at delivering, blaming the car or any other reason but themselves.

Facing the media after qualifying, Hamilton was asked if the problem had anything to do with him; he responded: "Who knows? I'm definitely not fast anymore."

"Same as every other qualifying, not that great," he added. "I'm just slow and same every weekend. So yeah, car felt relatively decent. No, no issues, and not really much more to say."

Hamilton had the same issue in qualifying in Las Vegas but drove a solid race from tenth on the grid to second, and while that was a positive, he admitted it was not ideal always starting from the back, making his race more difficult.

As for his race pace in Qatar and his chances in the Sprint on Saturday, the Briton said: "The long run didn't feel too bad.

"But when you're always back where I am, it makes it very hard to be competing for—well, almost impossible pretty much—to be competing for wins from there. But that's the sprint. I'll do what I can tomorrow [Saturday]."

And when quizzed whether he could reset and give it another shock in qualifying for the Grand Prix on Saturday after the Sprint race, he replied: "Not particularly, no.

"I mean, the positive is that the car is fast, and George should be out to shoot for pole tomorrow," Hamilton concluded.

Hamilton has suffered with subpar Mercedes machinery since the start of the current ground effect regulations in 2022. He is leaving the team for Ferrari in 2025.