Lewis Hamilton’s terrible season continues with eighth-place finish in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Lewis Hamilton had every reason to feel good about the effort he put in Saturday night, but as a seven-time Formula 1 champion, his bar is too high for moral victories.

So even though he quickly moved from the back of the pack in the Las Vegas Grand Prix, even rising to fifth midway through the 50-lap race, Hamilton took little solace in finishing eighth.

It was, no matter how he got there, another loss.

“I feel terrible. Terrible,” Hamilton said. “It’s been the worst season for me ever. No matter how much I try, it just keeps getting worse.”

He crossed the line in 10th but gained two positions when Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were disqualified.

“Lewis had a great start from (20th position), recovering very well,” team principal Fred Vasseur said.

Hamilton came into the weekend looking for answers after his hyped move from Mercedes to Ferrari fell well short of expectations in the English driver’s first season with the team.

He hasn’t won this season, nor has teammate Charles Leclerc, which drew the ire of Ferrari executive chairman John Elkann after an especially disappointing race two weeks ago when both drivers failed to finish the Brazilian Grand Prix.

“It’s important that our drivers focus on driving and talk less,” Elkann said.

Ferrari dropped from second to fourth in the constructors’ standings in Brazil, where the team remains with two events to go after Las Vegas. The series moves on to Qatar and then finishes in the United Arab Emirates.

“Now there are still two races to go and our target is still to try and win a race before the end of the season,” Vasseur said.

Elkann couldn’t have been pleased by the way the Las Vegas race began for Hamilton. He qualified Friday night in 20th and last place. Hamilton wound up starting 19th after Yuki Tsunoda was found to have made modifications when none were allowed.

“That was a really disappointing qualifying session,” Hamilton said shortly afterward. “After (practice session No. 3), I felt we had good pace in the car, but the wet conditions didn’t work in our favor today. Visibility was poor and we were unfortunate to be hampered by a few yellow flags, which meant I couldn’t put a proper lap together in my last three attempts.”

Hamilton’s disappointing results have even sparked speculation whether the 40-year-old should retire.

With seven titles, he is tied with Michael Schumacher for the record, and Hamilton is first in victories (105) and podium appearances (202). Hamilton was especially dominant between 2017 and 2020, winning four championships in a row, the last three seasons ending with 11 victories each.

It’s greatest-ever stuff, a conversation in which Hamilton firmly planted himself.

But then it all began to fall apart after what would have been a record eighth championship at the season-ending 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hamilton was primed to win the race, but a series of controversial events helped hand the victory to Max Verstappen, who hasn’t let go of the title since in winning the past four.

Mercedes and Hamilton protested the Abu Dhabi result to no avail.

Whether that result got into his head or there were other factors at play, Hamilton hasn’t been the same since. The driver who has posted six double-digit win seasons failed to cross the finish line first in 2022 and 2023.

He finally broke through with wins last year in England and Belgium but finished seventh in the standings, actually a step back from third in 2023. That also was his final season at Mercedes, and moving to Ferrari presented hopes of reigniting his career.

It just hasn’t happened.

Beyond failing to win a race this year, Hamilton has not even made the top three or taken a pole position. He has just one pole over the past four years.

No wonder Hamilton, even on a night when he got more out of the car than expected, was still searching for answers.

“I’m trying everything. Everything,” Hamilton said. “In and out of the car.”

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing