Lewis Hamilton has made it clear that he is ‘not looking forward to’ the 2026 F1 season as his Ferrari troubles show no signs of improvement. The seven-time world champion finished 10th after starting from the back in Las Vegas, but his recovery drive was of no consolation after the chequered flag.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix was one of Hamilton’s toughest of the season, and came at a critical point for the Ferrari squad, who are now 59 points behind second-placed Mercedes and 13 behind Red Bull in their Constructors’ Championship fight.

The legendary Brit was eliminated in dead last in qualifying for the first time in his F1 career on Saturday, before his drive through the pack stalled out behind Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg during the final stint. In the media pen afterwards, Hamilton cut a dejected figure.

“It’s a terrible result. There is nothing positive to take from today,” he declared, “I’m eager for it to end, I’m looking forward to it ending. I’m not looking forward to the next one.” Asked if he meant the next race in Qatar, Hamilton replied: “Next season.”

Hamilton at least recuperated some more points when Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were disqualified for failing post-race inspections, although this was of little consolation to the 40-year-old, who was classified in eighth after the changes to the order were made.

With two Grands Prix and a sprint race in Qatar remaining, Hamilton will be desperate to ensure that he finishes ahead of Kimi Antonelli, the man who replaced him at Mercedes, in the Drivers’ Championship standings. After the Italian’s second successive podium finish, achieved from 17th on the grid, the two drivers are separated by just 15 points.

“The feeling is getting better and better in the car, and I’ve been enjoying quite lately driving the car a lot,” Antonelli explained after his strong comeback drive on Sunday. “It’s been, obviously, after Brazil, good momentum.

“Of course, yesterday was a big shame, I was very disappointed, but today was redemption, and I now need to focus on the next two because I really want to finish on a high.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Ferrari garage, Charles Leclerc was also frustrated. The Monegasque racer’s disappointment related to Saturday’s qualifying, in which the SF-25 left both drivers fighting tooth and nail to extract speed in treacherous wet conditions.

“We’ve got to really work on our wet pace because it’s been too many times the case of us being on the back foot and we are paying the price at the end of the year,” he said.

“When you look at all the wet qualifying, all the wet races, we are just leaving too many points on the table. This is for sure a priority that I’ll set myself from now on. It was already one, but probably now it’s even higher because we are struggling too much.”