"Honestly, at this point it is what it is," says Lewis Hamilton after a second successive Q2 exit in final qualy of the season; George Russell fourth with rivals Ferrari second and 16th; watch the Abu Dhabi GP live on Sky Sports F1 at 1pm on Sunday; build-up from 11.30am
Saturday 25 November 2023 19:23, UK
Lewis Hamilton felt something was amiss with his Mercedes at the Abu Dhabi GP after he failed to make the top 10 in qualifying for the second successive weekend, with team boss Toto Wolff admitting he is "fed up" with trying to explain the W14's unpredictable form ahead of its final race outing.
On a weekend they are in a tight battle with Ferrari for second place in the Constructors' Championship, with Mercedes heading into Sunday's season-ending race with a slender four-point advantage, they qualified fourth with George Russell and 11th with Hamilton under the Yas Marina floodlights after the former had impressively topped final practice in the earlier day-time session.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc qualified on the front row but one solace for Mercedes is that although Hamilton dropped out in Q2, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz failed to clear Q1 and will start 16th.
For Hamilton, it was fresh frustration in qualifying after he also finished only 11th in last week's corresponding session in Las Vegas.
"Not great. Just struggling with balance," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.
"I don't have any answers. Honestly, at this point it is what it is.
"We set our cars up the same but they don't read the same so there's something not right on our side. I'm sure we will deep dive into it but I've been off all weekend, we have struggled with the car."
It is the first time since 2014 that Hamilton has failed to make the top 10 in qualifying for two races running.
"Two 11ths...it takes some good going for me not to get into Q3, so I will try and move my way up [in the race]," he added.
Unlike Russell, who has looked the more comfortable Mercedes driver all weekend, Wolff said Hamilton had "just no grip" throughout Saturday's running.
Russell had impressively topped final practice in the warmer day-time conditions but slipped to fourth in the qualifying hour, 0.343s off the pace.
"FP3 was even, I would say, dominant. Norris could have probably been there, and would have in qualifying by the way," said Wolff, Mercedes' team principal.
"It just didn't come together. Probably that's what was in the car. Expectations were higher.
"I'm fed up with having explanations on why it didn't go well. We were good in the hot, we weren't in the cold. Previous days it has been the other way around.
"I'm happy this was the last qualifying of the season and we will come with a new car [in 2024]."
The younger Briton had appeared the Mercedes driver more likely to qualify in the higher position through Saturday and duly delivered with fourth place, ensuring he levelled the qualifying head-to-head with seven-time champion Hamilton for 2023 at 11-11.
"I've been really ill the last two weeks and I've been really, really quick so I don't know if I need to be more ill more often, or what is," Russell told Sky Sports F1.
"But the last two weeks I have felt super comfortable in the car, had about on average three hours sleep per night, so maybe that is the secret everybody is missing.
"I don't know, it's mixed feelings right now. We definitely would have taken P4 ahead of the weekend but after this morning's performance we were quickest every single lap and we only improved six tenths from practice to qualifying. Considering it was much colder, we had much less fuel in the car, we didn't make the jump we should have. So that was a little bit disappointing."
Nonetheless, Russell is feeling optimistic about Mercedes' race prospects as he aims to finish a difficult season at the team with just his second podium of 2023.
"Of course, we need to finish ahead of Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship, but in these situations, and especially when I've fought for championships in my younger years, you have just got to treat it like any other race," added the former F2 champion.
"You always go out to achieve the best result possible and, if that's what we do, we'll finish ahead of Ferrari. Lewis had a tricky session but he's still in P11, he'll move forward. Carlos will move forward too I'm sure
"I want to finish on the podium; I want to finish the season on a high. Obviously with Carlos down in P16 they are in a tricky position. But, as I said, treat it like a normal race and I think we will have good pace over the McLaren and over Charles. So let's see where we fall out."
Sunday November 26
After the thrills of Las Vegas, Formula 1 heads to Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit for the 2023 season finale and another stunning spectacle under the lights. Watch the Abu Dhabi weekend live on Sky Sports F1, with lights out on Sunday at 1pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW
