“These last two races have been a disaster”: Lewis Hamilton reflects on yet another dismal qualifying

Lewis Hamilton failed to qualify in the top 10 for the Abu Dhabi GP, after having struggled with the car balance throughout the weekend. Following an 11th-place starting position for the Las Vegas GP, Hamilton found himself in the same grid position in the Yas Marina Circuit.

The Mercedes ace classified the last two qualifying sessions as disastrous, as his teammate George Russell seems to have found pace over a single lap. Russell qualified third for the Las Vegas GP and fourth for the season finale.

"These last two races have been a disaster for me. Particularly in qualifying. I’ve had two 11th places, it’s very rare. But, it’s the last race so…" Hamilton told the media following the session.

The seven-time champion struggled to find the right setup for the Mercedes W14 through the practice sessions, while Russell posted the fastest times in two of the sessions.

Lewis Hamilton lamented about the unpredictability of the car, as was visible from the onboards as he was constantly correcting the car. With the final qualifying session of the year behind him, Hamilton breathed a sigh of relief.

"Just a very unpredictable car and it's been the same all year. I am definitely happy it is nearly over," he was quoted by BBC.

"More inconsistent than ever before - the moment you hit the brakes, the moment you turn, the moment you hit the apex, it's massively out of balance and very hard to predict what's going to happen."

With the checkered flag down on the final qualifying session of the year, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton have both out-qualified each other exactly 11 times. However, the veteran driver has the edge on Sundays, as he has consolidated third position in the Drivers' standings, with Russell in eighth position.

The focus remains on the fight for second in the Constructors' standings, with rival Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc starting on the front row and Carlos Sainz starting 16th on the grid.

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Red Bull's top boss comments on the Lewis Hamilton-Christian Horner saga

Ahead of the season finale, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner created waves in the F1 market by revealing to Daily Mail that Lewis Hamilton had "inquired" about a possible seat.

After Hamilton denied the reports, Helmut Marko added that there was serious interest from the Mercedes driver early in the season.

“I can only say that Christian Horner told me in January about a text message he received from Hamilton's entourage,” Marko told F1-insider.com

“It seemed authorised by the driver, especially because there was talk of a condition that Hamilton set. He only wanted to drive for Red Bull if he got the same material as Max Verstappen.

For me at least there was no doubt that the request from the Hamilton side was serious.”

The Red Bull taskmaster concluded that the deal could probably not have gone through due to "emotional differences".