Lewis Hamilton has equalled an unwanted Ferrari record after suffering yet more ignominy after qualifying slowest of all for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
For the first time in his career, Hamilton was slowest in Q1 on pure pace. In his previous 378 qualifying sessions, Hamilton has never been the slowest of all on outright pace.
In doing so, he became the first Ferrari driver since Giancarlo Fisichella at the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to qualify slowest on pure pace.
There were twin reasons for Hamilton's exit. He clipped a bollard at Turn 14 at the end of the Strip just as he was starting what would turn out to be his final flying lap.
Then, he crossed the line with about half a second to spare before the red lights signalled the end of Q1, but he had not committed to a fast lap, despite having the fuel and tyres to do so.
Hamilton has started 19th and 20th before in his F1 career, and even from the pit-lane, but these have been the result of disqualifications (such as the 2012 Spanish GP from pole due to insufficient fuel for a sample), or crashing out in Q1 - at the 2017 Brazilian GP.
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