Lewis Hamilton says he wants to let go of the “terrible” feeling he felt after losing Q1 at the Las Vegas Grand Prix and make a comeback from last place on the grid.
Ferrari appeared to be competitive throughout practice in Las Vegas, but Hamilton was unable to achieve a clean lap in wet qualifying, bemoaning a lack of tire temperature, failing to realize he had broken the checkered flag and unable to continue pushing for the final attack. Hamilton, who retired in 20th place and was scheduled to start from last on the grid, said he was encouraged by his car’s performance despite his lower position.
“Obviously I feel terrible and I don’t feel great,” Hamilton said. “But all I can do is just let it go. I’m going to try to get back (to racing).”
“In terms of all the practice sessions, we did everything we could in terms of preparation…[FP3]felt great and even though we didn’t get a lap at the end, we felt like we were the fastest and we came out of qualifying 20th.
“This year is definitely the most difficult year.
“I’ll do my best (to make a comeback). I think I’ve driven a really good car. It’s really, really difficult to come back from 20th place, but (I’ll do my best).”
Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc also ended Q3 in ninth place after going off the track at Turn 12, leading to a disappointing end to qualifying, but Hamilton believes there is something wrong with the Ferrari car’s characteristics in wet conditions.
“Since I joined the team, we have struggled very hard to find grip in those conditions,” Leclerc told F1TV. “It’s very frustrating because that was probably my biggest strength in the junior category. And…we’re doing something wrong. We turned the car over so we have no idea what it is.”
“We had Lewis and of course before that Carlos (Sainz) from other teams, and they gave us a feel of the other cars. It’s very difficult to find grip in our car.”
“Our car is very unpredictable and that causes us to make a lot of mistakes. It’s not like we’re not trying because we’ve been trying our best as a team. For some reason we just haven’t found our way yet.”
