Lewis Hamilton has indicated he is not looking forward to the 2026 F1 season as his Ferrari "nightmare" worsened in Las Vegas.
After qualifying slowest on pure pace for the first time in his 378 race F1 career, Hamilton initially made good forward progress on the hard tyres in Las Vegas, aided by the Turn 1 chaos, making up six places.
However, he then stalled behind Esteban Ocon, before eventually going onto finish 10th on the road, before being promoted up to eighth after the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were disqualified.
Hamilton now has just two chances remaining, in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to avoid failing to claim a single podium finish in a season for the first time in his career. After a DNF in Brazil, Hamilton claimed his much-vaunted move to Ferrari was turning into a "nightmare" given his struggles.
The seven-time champion's driving style is polar opposite to that demanded by the ground-effect machines, which reward rolling a car through a corner in a 'U' shaped, as opposed to Hamilton's aggressive initial braking and turn in style - known as 'V'ing' a corner.
For 2026, the cars are set to be massively overhauled with little, if any, of the current characteristics set to transition from 2025.
However, after the Las Vegas GP, in which he finished 59.369s behind winner Max Verstappen, Hamilton indicated even this radical change was not making him optimistic.
"It's a terrible result. There is nothing positive to take from today," Hamilton told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"I'm eager for it to end. I'm looking forward to it ending. I'm not looking forward to the next one."
Asked if that meant he was not looking forward to the next race in Qatar, Hamilton replied: "Next season."
When asked by RacingNews365 if he intended to quit at the end of the current season and not take up the second year of his Ferrari contract, Hamilton shook his head and replied: 'No, no."
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