Lewis Hamilton’s team radio conversation has emerged after he qualified last for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Hamilton has endured a nightmare spell as a Ferrari driver but he hit a new Formula 1 career low at the Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying.
He qualified last in what is the first time he has been last on pure pace in his 19-year F1 career.
His latest setback got people online talking as they urged him to leave Ferrari, with one X user saying: “Lewis Hamilton please leave Ferrari.”
After the qualifying session, Bernie Collins shared his thoughts on Hamilton’s performance that took place in treacherous wet conditions on the Las Vegas strip.
He heard a ‘a lot of confusion’ over Ferrari’s radio before Hamilton’s Q1 exit, revealing the exchange the Brit had with the team’s engineer.
Lewis Hamilton qualified last for the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Image: Getty
Collins told Sky Sports: “There seemed to be a lot of confusion. He did get to the line, he was able to do that final lap. Lewis then came on the radio and asked, ‘Am I safe?’ So, he wasn’t given the information at that point to know he was outside the top 15.
“There was some sort of light on his dash that he then questioned. Twice, the engineer came on and said, ‘Push’. But a bit of confusion, [and] he’d already aborted that first sector.”
The confusion on his radio at the end of Q1 arose as the Scuderia star was not sure whether or not he had the time remaining in the session to attempt another flying lap.
He had crossed the line right before the chequered flag.
Lewis Hamilton will start the Las Vegas Grand Prix in 20th. Image: Getty
Lewis Hamilton: ‘It can’t get much worse than that’
Hamilton described his debut season with Ferrari as a ‘nightmare’ after he suffered a double DNF at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix last time out.
But things took a turn for the worse in Las Vegas as he said ‘it can’t get much worse than that’ after qualifying last.
“I don’t really have words for it,” he explained.
“It’s obviously not good enough. I just couldn’t get temperature into the tyres, had a lot of understeer and I think one of my front brakes was glazed so I was really struggling to stop it in the corners.
“It’s very annoying, of course, because in P3 the car was feeling awesome and I thought it was going to be a great day and it turned out to be the worst. It can’t get much worse than that.”
