LAS VEGAS — An unhappy Lewis Hamilton said his first season with Ferrari had been the worst of his career after he started last in Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix and finished 10th.
It was the first time since the 2009 Abu Dhabi season-ender that a Ferrari had started at the back of the grid on performance, and the single point he earned on Saturday was scant consolation for the seven-time world champion.
“I feel terrible,” Hamilton told Sky Sports television. “It’s been the worst season ever. No matter how much I try, it just keeps going worse.
“I’ve tried everything, in and out of the car,” he added according to Reuters.
Hamilton, who joined from Mercedes in January, has yet to stand on the podium in 22 races, with a sprint win in Shanghai in March the only real bright spot of the campaign.
Ferrari are the only top-four team without a win in 2025 and have slipped from close second to McLaren last year to fourth in the standings.
Hamilton has sounded increasingly gloomy about the team’s performance, after upbeat comments early in the season, with Ferrari chairman John Elkann recently saying the drivers should talk less and focus on driving.
Hamilton had described qualifying as ‘horrible’. Team boss Fred Vasseur said he knew where the Briton was coming from.
“I can completely understand the adrenaline and the emotion and having a comment that is a bit harsh at this stage of the weekend,” he told reporters.
Formula One world champion Max Verstappen, meanwhile, produced a masterful drive to win the Las Vegas Grand Prix as McLaren’s Lando Norris finished second to edge closer to a maiden drivers’ title.
Red Bull ace Verstappen pounced on a slip by pole-sitter Norris on the first turn of Sin City’s circuit to grab the lead and controlled the race thereafter to claim the 69th Grand Prix win of his career, finishing more than 20 seconds clear.
Britain’s Norris tightened his grip on the season standings, with his second place leaving him on 408 points with two races remaining, 30 clear of teammate Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth. Mercedes’ George Russell was third.
After the drama of Friday’s qualifying, when heavy rain made for a treacherous surface that Verstappen likened to driving on ice, the 50-lap race under the glittering lights of Las Vegas got under way in cool, dry conditions.
Verstappen, who could mathematically still win a fifth consecutive title after a result that leaves him 42 points behind Norris with two races remaining, was quick to exploit the improved weather.
Norris, who had arrived in Vegas fresh from back-to-back wins in Mexico and Sao Paulo, attempted an aggressive move to block Verstappen right from the start.
The move backfired and Norris ran off the track and allowed Verstappen to grab first place. Norris dropped back to third after he was passed by Russell into second. “I made the mistake into turn one,” Norris said according to AFP.
“You know you’ve got to be punchy into turn one, but I was just a bit too punchy and that cost me. But second is still a good result, good points. It’s not like I’m too disappointed.
“I went for it, I let Max have a win, let him go and have a nice race.
