Lewis Hamilton’s unbroadcast radio after Qatar Grand Prix SQ1 exit makes for painful listening

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Lewis Hamilton’s miserable run continued as he was eliminated in SQ1 at the Qatar Grand Prix on Friday evening. Hamilton will start the race from 18th place.

Hamilton matched his best result of the season at the US GP last month when he finished fourth, then delivered his best qualifying as a Ferrari driver with third in Mexico. Since then, any optimism has unravelled.

The seven-time world champion fell to eighth in Mexico after a penalty, then suffered two Q2 exits during the Brazil Sprint weekend before retiring from the race. In Vegas, he qualified last and was dejected despite recovering to eighth.

The desperate sequence goes on after Hamilton’s Lusail elimination, which makes points in the short event unlikely.

The ‘silence’ was deafening from Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari engineer

Hamilton’s 1:22.043 was only faster than the two Alpine cars, who have only combined for 22 points all season. While Charles Leclerc was only 13th in the corresponding session, the gap between the two Ferrari drivers was still over four-tenths of a second.

After crossing the line with his final effort in SQ1, which left him a precarious 15th, Hamilton complained that ‘the car won’t go any quicker’.

That message was played out on the F1 world feed, but what wasn’t broadcast was his exchange with Riccardo Adami afterwards.

“Assume by your silence that I’m out?” Hamilton asked Adami.

“P18,” the engineer replied.

The radio messages, which are indicative of the low morale on his side of the garage, make for painful listening for Hamilton fans.

Lewis Hamilton only said nine words of note in his Qatar Grand Prix interview

Hamilton said it was the ‘same as always’ when he reflected on his lack of pace in the media pen afterwards.

When asked whether the higher-downforce rear wing he fitted for the session made any difference, he replied: “No, clearly not.”

And a sardonic Hamilton could only think of one positive that he could take into Saturday: “The weather’s nice.”

Martin Brundle says Hamilton must remember he’s in a ‘privileged’ position but any spells of positivity have been short-lived this year.

While Max Verstappen has sympathy for Hamilton amid a difficult transition from Mercedes to Ferrari, he also pointed out that his former rival won’t be getting any faster at the age of 40.