‘It obviously can't get much worse than that’ – Hamilton annoyed after qualifying slowest in Las Vegas

Lewis Hamilton conceded it “can’t get much worse than that” after qualifying slowest on outright pace for the first time in his Formula 1 career at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Hamilton recently described his maiden season with Ferrari as a “nightmare” after the Scuderia suffered a double DNF in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix last time out, but things took a further turn in Las Vegas.

Having looked strong throughout practice, subsequent rain and a wet track for Qualifying threw a spanner in the works for the drivers with Hamilton unable to extract any pace, leaving him last on the grid.

"I just don't really have words for it,” said Hamilton following his Q1 exit. “It's obviously not good enough and I didn't have any - I couldn't get any temperature into the tyres. I just had a lot of understeer and then I think one of my front brakes was glazed, so I was really struggling to stop in the corners."

Hamilton’s result marks not only an unwanted career first for the seven-time World Champion, but also the first time a Ferrari has been slowest in Qualifying since the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2009.

In the drier conditions in final practice, Hamilton had shown strong pace, ending that session fifth fastest.

Of the drop off in the wet, he added: "It's very annoying, of course, because I felt in [FP3] that the car was feeling awesome. Honestly, I thought it was going to be a great day, but it's turned out to be the worst. So it obviously can't get much worse than that."

At the end of Q1, there was also confusion as to whether Hamilton had crossed the line in time to continue for another final effort, with the seven-time champion telling Sky Sports F1: “I had to have a lift, and when I came to the line, it was red.”

The Ferrari driver also appeared to hit a dislodged cone in Q1, which may have unwittingly hampered his progress in the session.