“Where do we lose our time”: Lewis Hamilton left puzzled after a subpar qualification for the F1 2025 US GP Sprint

Lewis Hamilton ended the Sprint qualifying session in eighth place after a tough session for the Scuderia. With him being outpaced by several of his rivals and midfield drivers, the seven-time champion was left puzzled as he ended the session over eight tenths of a second behind the fastest qualifier.

Hamilton is the most successful driver at COTA, having won five races at the expansive track. However, his most recent win came in 2017, and he has settled for several podium finishes as of late.

But, with the seven-time champion having transitioned to Ferrari and not having scored a podium so far, such results are not really anticipated owing to the SF-25's pace. Moreover, this show of sub-optimal qualifying continued into the Sprint format also.

Hamilton made it into SQ3 through the skin of his teeth and seemingly didn't have any pace left in the car. He was the lead scarlet driver as Charles Leclerc ended the session in 10th.

So, having a post-qualifying debrief over the radio with his race engineer, the 40-year-old asked:

"How far are we off?"

Subsequently, Riccardo Adami revealed that he was eight-tenths of the fastest time, to which Lewis Hamilton replied:

"Where do we lose our time?"

Adami then revealed to Hamilton was losing time all around the lap, before the Briton entered the pit lane and switched off his car.

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"These are ultimately test weekends": Lewis Hamilton on the remainder of the 2025 season

Lewis Hamilton driving the Ferrari SF-25 during the Sprint qualifying session for the F1 Grand Prix of the United States race weekend - Source: Getty

Lewis Hamilton's maiden season with Ferrari has not gone as per initial plans. But, with over 18 race weekends behind him, the Briton only has to cater to six more weekends of racing before the squad could divert its attention totally to 2026.

Reflecting on how he would tackle the remaining race weekends on the 2025 calendar, Hamilton said (via F1's official website):

"These are ultimately test weekends, really, in terms of just continuing to learn, to improve on our processes. In the last races there have been a couple of gems through the weekend that we couldn’t capitalise on, and so it’s taking those good bits from there and continuing to work on them, to take what works and then change what isn’t [working].

“So that’s what we’re trying to do moving forwards. I think it’s continuing to build on the relationships, continuing to build on communication. Ultimately, everyone back at the factory really deserves a good result and that’s the sole focus – to get good results, try to maximise, squeeze every point we can out of our performances on the weekends, and I really, really believe that we can do that, so we just stay focused."

On the other hand, if Hamilton finishes in the same spot as where he starts in the Sprint race, he would score a solitary point for his efforts at the end of 19 laps of racing.