Lewis Hamilton says his qualifying performance struggles in Qatar are unexplainable, marking a challenging period before his Mercedes departure. His teammate George Russell qualified on the front row for both the Sprint and main race, while Hamilton lagged roughly half a second behind.

"I know I've still got it, it's just the car won't go any faster," Hamilton stated, expressing frustration with his performance. "I can't explain why I am half a second off my teammate. It's never happened in my career."

Despite reporting that the car felt balanced and decent during qualifying sessions, Hamilton's lap times failed to match Russell's pace. The seven-time world champion noted that while his laps felt good during execution, the final times revealed a significant gap to his teammate.

In the Sprint race, Hamilton showed better early pace before losing position to Charles Leclerc. He admitted to taking a conservative approach, considering the lower points at stake compared to Sunday's main race.

"If I'm in the same position again tomorrow, I'll put more of a fight up, for sure," Hamilton declared, indicating a more aggressive strategy for the Grand Prix.

With just the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix remaining after Qatar before his Mercedes departure, Hamilton expressed he's "looking forward to the end" of this challenging chapter in his career.

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