Lewis Hamilton cut a hangdog figure after qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix – possibly the most downcast he has looked since qualifying nearly half a second off George Russell, then his team-mate, in Qatar last year.
In Bahrain Hamilton toiled to ninth on the grid, 0.931s slower than Oscar Piastri’s pole position time and nearly six tenths adrift of his Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc, who initially qualified third before Russell’s penalty promoted him to second.
