"I just don’t feel connected to this car": Lewis Hamilton admits he's struggling for confidence driving his Mercedes W14

Lewis Hamilton was left perplexed after his disappointing showing in the Saudi Arabian GP qualifying session on Saturday. The seven-time world champion qualified eighth, which will become seventh owing to Charles Leclerc's engine penalty.

Hamilton never looked comfortable and in control of his car compared to teammate George Russell, who will start the race in P3. Hamilton will start the race behind Alpine's Esteban Ocon.

Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, after qualifying, Lewis Hamilton said:

"I feel like I struggled with the car in the high speed [sections] particularly. But I just don’t feel the car underneath me. I just don’t feel connected to this car and I can’t get it, so I don’t really know what I’m going to do about that. It’s miserable".

He added:

"It’s tough. I’m giving it absolutely everything; I’m here as late as I can be every day, I’m preparing the best you can, and I just get in the car and I can’t connect with it."

---

“I don’t really know what to say about it" - Lewis Hamilton after his qualifying session

Lewis Hamilton was at a loss for words after his dismal qualifying performance in Jeddah but was complimentary of his teammate George Russell's efforts during the session.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said:

“I don’t really know what to say about it, but it’s good that George [Russell] had a good run today, so it’s great to be able to hopefully score some good points for the team, and I’ll try and recover tomorrow – it’s a new day so I’ll give it everything.”

Russell, on the other hand, was really happy with his lap and was optimistic about his chances. He said:

"P3 on the grid tomorrow; I’m really pleased with that. [It’s] far from [our] expectations and the work the team did overnight was really great – a lot of effort went in to try and maximize the package we’ve got. You want to have a good tussle on track with competitors in a similar ballpark to you, but obviously Red Bull are in a really fantastic place right now; their car is exceptional [and] Max is just going to slice through the field."

Russell added:

"We will do our best to keep them behind, but when they’ve got a second [a lap] pace advantage, [so] they can kind of do what they like with the strategy – they’ll come back through comfortably."

It would be fascinating to see if Lewis Hamilton can bounce back on Sunday and fight alongside his teammate at the front on race day.