Lewis Hamilton admits he’s finding it “very difficult” to bond with the Ferrari F1 car after another difficult qualifying session in Saudi Arabia.
Hamilton has been short of speed all weekend at the high-speed Jeddah street circuit and only narrowly managed to make the top-10 shootout in qualifying.
Yet the seven-time F1 world champion was never in the running for pole and qualified seventh on the grid for Sunday’s race, ironically one place behind Williams’s Carlos Sainz, the man he replaced at Ferrari.
Max Verstappen will start on pole, ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Mercedes’ George Russell. Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc will start in fourth.
“It was challenging as always, qualifying for me,” Hamilton reflected afterwards. The 40-year-old has not qualified in the top three so far in 2025, aside from his sprint race win in China.
“I’ve been nowhere all weekend, 13th in almost every session.
“I feel grateful to have got to Q3. P7, not a spectacular last lap, we make improvements all weekend, needed a better lap at the end there.”
Asked about his hopes for moving up the standings in Sunday’s race, he replied: “Praying more like!
“It’s been trying to find the time and bond with this car on a single lap, it’s something I’m finding very difficult at the moment.
“But when there’s a will, there’s a way, we won’t give up, we’ll keep working hard.”
Hamilton is currently seventh in the drivers’ standings, 52 points behind championship leader Lando Norris – who crashed out of qualifying on Saturday in Jeddah.
The race on Sunday starts at 6pm (BST).
