Lewis Hamilton rued his qualifying woes for Ferrari again on Saturday in what has seemingly becoming the start of a regular story for the seven-time world champion.
The Brit could only qualify a disappointing P7 for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, once again outperformed by his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, who logged the fourth-fastest time.
Leclerc has bested Hamilton in four of the five grand prix qualifying sessions this year, with Hamilton only getting the better of the Monegasque in China.
The story in the drivers’ standings is not quite as bleak, as Hamilton trails Leclerc by just seven points. The former also won the sprint race in Shanghai, proving he is still a formidable force over a race distance.
Speaking after qualifying in Jeddah, Hamilton cut a tired look as he delved into the same old story about his qualifying struggles, which extend back to his final season at Mercedes.
George Russell out-qualified him 19 to five in grands prix and five to one in sprint races in 2024.
Lewis Hamilton revealed he was ‘nowhere’ compared to his rivals in qualifying on Saturday
The 40-year-old will start a disappointing seventh on the grid for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Hamilton has been out-qualified by his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in four out of five grands prix in 2025
Hamilton said: ‘It [Qualifying] was challenging as always for me. I’ve been nowhere all weekend – 13th in almost every session.
‘Honestly, I feel grateful to have got to Q3 and P7. It was not a spectacular last lap but we’ve been making improvements all weekend. Needed a better lap at the end but, as I said, I’m grateful to be there or thereabouts.’
A reporter then noted that Hamilton’s race performance has often bettered his lacklustre showings in qualifying. When asked if he thinks that will be the case again on Sunday in Jeddah, the 40-year-old laughed: ‘Praying, more like.’
He then added: ‘Trying to bond with this car over a single lap is something that I’m finding very difficult at the moment.
‘But we don’t give up. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. We keeping pushing and keep trying. We’ve got some amazing support, so we just [need to] keep working hard.’
Hamilton has logged the most pole positions in Formula One history (104), which makes his struggles even more perplexing.
His last pole came at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix, where he went on to finish P4.
Hamilton currently sits seventh in the drivers’ standings, already 52 points behind championship leader Lando Norris.