Lewis Hamilton finished at 34.
7 seconds behind Max Verstappen in the 24-lap Brazilian GP Sprint.
Lewis Hamilton admits he is “counting down the days” until he no longer needs to drive the W14 after enduring a miserable sprint race on Saturday at his beloved Brazilian Grand Prix.
Hamilton is a fan favorite at Interlagos, with the seven-time world champion an honorary citizen of Brazil. However, there was nothing to laugh about on Saturday.
Just like Sunday’s race, Hamilton qualified fifth after not having enough speed to challenge the Red Bulls or Lando Norris.
The Mercedes driver also qualified behind his teammate, who started the sprint in P3.
Hamilton started relatively well and passed Sergio Perez for fourth place on the opening lap, before entering the 24-lap race.
Perez did not take long to come back against the 38-year-old driver, who clearly could not match the Mexican driver.
The sprint became extremely quick for Hamilton, who suddenly lost considerable time.
Hamilton had very poor pace and was clearly struggling with his tyres, which was evident by the way he slid at every corner.
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He was eventually passed by Charles Leclerc and Yuki Tsunoda in the final laps of the sprint, leaving him seventh.
More worryingly, he finished at 34.
7 seconds behind sprint winner Max Verstappen, meaning he is averaging 1.
45 seconds per lap behind the three-time world champion.
That gives Hamilton little hope for Sunday’s race, with Perez likely to increase his advantage over the Briton in the battle for second place in the Drivers’ Championship .
After a dismal Saturday, Hamilton admitted he would be “happy” to be able to stop driving the W14.
“Over the last few races, we’ve been happy to make progress and that’s been positive to see,” Hamilton said, as reported by Breaking News. ie.
“But then you get to another track and my tires suffered the worst deterioration ever, so you don’t know what will happen.
“It was a very difficult race.
We had a good start and then I tried to find the right balance.
But I had a lot of understeer, sudden oversteer and the rear tire came off.
“This car only has a few more races left so I’m very happy.
I’m just counting the days.
