Lewis Hamilton admitted he was baffled by his problems in today's qualifying session in Abu Dhabi, after he failed to make the final cut in Q2 meaning he will start from 11th on the grid in tomorrow's Grand Prix.
“There is something not right with this car, mate,” Hamilton told his race engineer over the team radio as he headed back to the pits shaking his head, hoping in vain that a faster driver might have a lap deleted.
That performance compared to his team mate George Russell getting through to the final top ten pole shoot-out and securing P4 between the two McLarens, having previously been fastest in both FP1 and FP3.
Hamilton admitted that he couldn't understand why he was having so many problems this weekend, while Russell was proving capable of demonstrating the pace of the W14 at Yas Marina.
"It was a challenging session for me today," Hamilton admitted aft the end of the frustrating session. "I've been struggling with the set-up of the car here in Abu Dhabi this weekend.
"George managed to get the most out of the car today finishing in P4," he continued. "Our cars are set up the same, so we need to understand what it is on my side of the garage that's causing the lack of performance.
"It takes some good going for me to not make it into Q3, so we need to do a deep dive and try our best to move up tomorrow."
While the 2023 drivers and team championships may have been decided, there is still a meaningful prize on offer this weekend with Mercedes and Ferrari locked in a close fight over who will finish second in the constructors standings.
Just four points divides the teams, meaning that if Charles Leclerc finished in second place and Russell can't improve on fourth, then only points from Hamilton can help seal the runners-up spot for Mercedes.
"The team here and back in the factory deserves a good result for the final race of the season," said Hamilton. "We will work hard as always and hopefully it will pay off and we can find improvements ahead of tomorrow.
"We need to work hard overnight and give it our all tomorrow to end the season on a positive note and secure our position in the constructor's championship," commented Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.
"FP3 felt strong so we're disappointed that we didn't manage to put it together in Qualifying. Both Lewis and George struggled with grip and overall performance of the car. Our expectations obviously were higher.
"We need to understand why we struggled in qualifying after such a promising FP3 and how we can maximize our performance tomorrow. It was a challenging session for all teams and the field is so close together
"P4 was the maximum we could achieve today with George and I think we can be content with that; Lewis had a more difficult time, and was knocked out in Q2 by just a few milliseconds."
Russell will also be under pressure to get the better of McLaren Oscar Piastri who starts alongside him on the grid and secure a podium to finish off his season.
"I want to end the season on a high, so ultimately my goal is to be on the podium and get the most out of the points for the team in the constructors' championship so let's see what tomorrow holds for us.
"We will aim for the best result possible. I'm excited for the final race of the season, and although Lewis had a tricky session today I'm sure he will move forward tomorrow."
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