Deflation was palpable, and Lewis Hamilton could not conceal his disappointment after he could only manage 18th place for the Sprint race in Qatar on Friday night.

The 40-year-old British driver, who has endured a torrid and challenging debut campaign with Ferrari, added another unwanted record to his season by being knocked out immediately in the first Sprint Qualifying segment (SQ1) at the Lusail International Circuit.

This followed the humiliating setback in Las Vegas, where he qualified dead-last (20th) for the first time in his 19-year F1 career based purely on pace.

The on-track failures directly mirrored Hamilton’s deteriorating emotional state. Immediately following the qualifying session, a somewhat perplexed Hamilton communicated his frustration over the team radio to his race engineer, Riccardo Adami, saying: “Ah man, the car won’t go any faster.” When later interviewed by Sky Sports F1, Hamilton continued to convey his tiredness and disappointment through minimal, cold responses. Asked about the session, he simply replied: “Same as always.” And when pressed on whether he could look forward to anything positive on the Sprint day, he merely offered: “The weather’s nice.”

These performances occur as Hamilton navigates his most challenging season. He is currently sitting sixth in the championship standings and faces the possibility of finishing his career-long run of consecutive seasons with at least one podium finish, with only the final two rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi remaining. The pressure is further compounded by the fact that his replacement at Mercedes, teenager Kimi Antonelli, is only 15 points behind him in the leaderboard. Hamilton had previously flatly labelled the year the “worst season ever” just last weekend in Vegas, and his mood clearly failed to improve after a day to forget in Qatar.

While Lewis Hamilton struggled, the battle at the front of the grid was fiercely contested. Young driver Oscar Piastri excellently secured pole position for the Sprint race, showcasing McLaren’s impressive form. His teammate, and current championship leader, Lando Norris, could only manage third place, separated by Mercedes’ George Russell in second.

Significantly, Max Verstappen, a strong title contender, could only manage sixth on the grid. Currently, Verstappen and Piastri trail Norris by 24 points in the overall standings. The major surprise was Verstappen’s poor qualifying performance, as for the first time in over a year, he qualified behind his Red Bull teammate: Yuki Tsunoda will start one spot ahead in fifth.

As for Ferrari, beyond Hamilton’s disaster, his teammate Charles Leclerc also delivered a desperately disappointing showing, only managing ninth place. The combined results for the “men in red” have piled significant pressure onto Team Principal Fred Vasseur. Just three weeks prior, Ferrari chairman John Elkann had publicly advised the star driving pair to “talk less and focus on driving.” Both Hamilton and Leclerc subsequently downplayed those critical remarks, but their current form in Qatar only intensifies public scrutiny regarding the internal stability of the Italian squad.