Lewis Hamilton declares ‘my weekend is done’ as Charles Leclerc leap sparks questions

Lewis Hamilton has written off his chances at this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, declaring “that’s the weekend done” after his Q2 exit.

Hamilton is set to start Sunday’s race in Brazil from 13th on the grid after a disappointing showing.

Unlike in sprint qualifying, where Hamilton was caught out by yellow flags, the seven-time world champion simply lacked pace.

Conversely, teammate Charles Leclerc starred in qualifying, securing third behind Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli.

Understandably, Hamilton wasn’t in the mood to give lengthy answers after qualifying at Interlagos.

When asked if his tyre preparation was to blame for his qualifying result, he replied: “Just the way we had it going today.”

Hamilton was then asked about his chances of recovering in the race.

He added: “From where I am that’s the weekend done.”

Hamilton “must be confused” as Leclerc comparison made

Ferrari were on the back foot heading into qualifying.

Leclerc and Hamilton spent the majority of the sprint race battling Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

Even up until Q3 in qualifying, Leclerc didn’t look like he had the pace to challenge for a top-three position.

Racing driver Jamie Chadwick believes Hamilton must be “confused” by Ferrari’s inconsistent pace, highlighted by Leclerc’s last-ditch effort to secure third.

“What was weird was that both Ferraris looked like they were struggling massively,” Chadwick explained.

“Both looked like they were knocked out in Q2 at one point and next thing you know Charles pops it into P3. Lewis himself must be confused by it all.”

Fellow Sky F1 pundit Karun Chandhok cited Leclerc’s brilliance - and in his opinion, being the best qualifier in F1 - as the main reason for Hamilton looking like he’s struggling since joining Ferrari.

Chandhok also thinks Hamilton has had enough time to get up to speed at Ferrari.

“The other car is third on the grid. That’s the point,” Chandhok added.

“Ultimately, there’s lots of people who questioned it three years ago. I still think Leclerc is the best qualifier in F1. He drags these laps out of it and Martin said it in commentary. Somehow, he extracts that performance over one lap. They looked nowhere in the sprint.

“Somehow when it mattered in main qualifying, Leclerc extracted the maximum from it, that lap and Lewis wasn’t able to. Now, is that familiarity with the Ferrari and the way that the car evolves through qualifying with track evolution and another set of tyres? Maybe.

“We’re now at weekend number 21 for Lewis with that car. It’s not new to him. Ultimately, that’s the question he will be asking himself - how is it Charles made the step when I couldn’t.”