Lewis Hamilton suggested that he is "definitely not fast any more" after another disappointing qualifying performance in his final season at Mercedes.

Hamilton's comments came after qualifying seventh for the sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix, despite impressing in Las Vegas last time out with a second place finish. 

The seven-time world champion finished 0.399 seconds slower than team-mate George Russell, who will start second in the sprint race behind Lando Norris.

Russell has now out-qualified Hamilton 17 times in 22 races, despite the seven-time world champion holding the record for the most pole positions in Forumla One history (104).

"Same as every other qualifying - not that great. I'm just slow. Same every weekend. Car felt relatively decent. You know, no issues. Not really much more to say," Hamilton said.

When it was put to him that the problem could not be him, Hamilton said: "Who knows? I'm definitely not fast anymore."

A busy session with close margins out there It's P2 for George and P7 for Lewis on the Sprint grid pic.twitter.com/wwnCHRYe9m

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) November 29, 2024

It has been a year in which Hamilton has consistently been outperformed over a single lap by team-mate Russell, with the 26-year-old averaging an advantage of 0.16 seconds per lap over the seven-time world champion this season.

Ahead of this weekend's race, the pair have contested 66 grand prix's, with Russell beating Hamilton in 37 qualifying sessions so far. 

Russell, who triumphed in Las Vegas last time out, has also finished ahead in half of the races (33). Of Hamilton's six team-mates, only Fernando Alonso has beaten him more times in races. 

"When you are always back where I am, it makes it almost impossible to compete for wins from there. But that's the sprint. I'll do what I can tomorrow."

Asked whether there were any positives, Hamilton said: "Not particularly. The positive is the car is fast and George should be able to shoot for pole tomorrow."