Lewis Hamilton admitted to an ‘unbearable amount of anger and rage’ following another disappointing day with Ferrari.
His latest setback saw him qualify only 16th in Abu Dhabi – which, alarmingly, represented progress after the horror shows of recent weeks, having qualified 20th and last in Las Vegas, and 17th in Qatar.
The seven-time world champion is now likely to finish without a podium for the first time in his 19-year career.
‘Every time, mate,’ he lamented over the radio after finding himself two-and-half tenths behind Charles Leclerc, and finally 11 places back.
This is a poor Ferrari, no doubt, but not as delinquent as Hamilton is making it look.
As he walked back to the garage, the old master wiped his brow through his helmet, pondering why he has been outgunned 19 times in 24 qualifying sessions by the Monegasque in the other red car.
Hamilton, 40, later said: ‘I don’t have the words to describe the feeling inside me. There is just an unbearable amount of anger and rage. There is not really much I can say about it.’
Heading into the season’s concluding race under lights here in the UAE, Hamilton is 78 points short of Leclerc. Which is hardly a good return for his £60million-a-year salary.
His qualifying woes followed a crash in final practice that inflicted serious damage on the front of his Ferrari, leaving his mechanics with a repair job against the clock.
After losing control of his car at the high-speed turn nine, he spun into the barrier at speed.
Hamilton was able to walk away from the scene, picking up a piece of his front wing and placing it in his stricken motor as he left.
‘Something buckled at the front and snapped the rear,’ he told his mechanics over the team radio.
Speaking on Sky Sports, former world champion Nico Rosberg said: ‘You just see how he keeps on being uncomfortable with the car as a whole because when have we seen Lewis Hamilton on a normal lap in free practice just spinning out like that?
‘In his whole career we have never really seen that and now, with Ferrari, it’s mistakes here and there. He’s just not comfortable with that car, it seems like a handful to drive.’
