Lewis Hamilton gives telling four-word verdict as Brit suffers George Russell humiliation

Another lackluster qualifying session was endured by Lewis Hamilton on Saturday afternoon.

Lewis Hamilton said that the qualifying session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was frustrating because it was the “same Saturday as always.” After a lackluster showing, the British driver could only manage a P7 starting grid slot.

With seven races remaining, George Russell, a 26-year-old, won the intra-team qualifying head-to-head battle with his Mercedes machine, finishing in P5.

When asked about his performance in the media pen, Hamilton was not in the best of moods. When questioned by Sky Sports F1 reporter Ted Kravitz, he shrugged and said, “Same Saturday as always.”

When asked what problems he specifically had, Hamilton said, “The same thing every Saturday.” Yesterday, the car performed flawlessly. Sincerely, I believe I could have at least made it to the second row today, but today the tires stopped working altogether. All day, the tires were inoperable.

The fact that all four of the top teams were vying for pole position again gives the Silver Arrows some optimism, even though Hamilton and Russell were not impressed with their performances.

But even though during the qualifying session all four of the top teams made threats to take P1, nobody was able to unseat Charles Leclerc when things got tight in the third round.

After winning the Italian Grand Prix two weeks prior, the driver from Monaco secured his fourth consecutive pole position at Baku City Circuit with an incredible final lap.

Oscar Piastri will join him on the front row of the grid, but Lando Norris did not appear in Q3 following a mishandled yellow flag that sent him hurtling out of the race in Q1.

The Brit’s championship hopes could be severely damaged by that outcome, as Max Verstappen will start the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from P6, eleven positions ahead of his title rival.