Lewis Hamilton sensationally claimed that he is "definitely not fast anymore" after qualifying seventh for the Qatar sprint race.
The seven-time world champion was four tenths of a second slower than Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who secured a front row start.
Russell fell just 0.063s short of pipping Lando Norris to sprint pole, at the Lusail International Circuit.
Hamilton was visibly dejected after sprint qualifying and pinned the blame on himself, not the W15.
"I'm just slow, same every weekend," said a visibly downbeat Hamilton. "Car felt relatively decent, no issues, not really much more to say.
He later continued: "The long run didn't feel too bad. But when you're always back where I am, it makes it very hard to be competing for... almost impossible, pretty much, to be competing for wins.
"But that's the sprint, I'll do what I can."
Hamilton was actually pleased with the car and the pace it has in Qatar, albeit, not on his side of the Brackley-based team's garage.
The 39-year-old expects his team-mate to challenge for pole position, whilst he again pinned his poor qualifying position on his ability.
"The positive is that the car is fast, George should be able to shoot for a pole," added Hamilton, who later made a remark that he lacks speed when put to him that he cannot be the problem.
"Who knows, I'm definitely not fast anymore."
Most read
In this article
Join the conversation!