Lewis Hamilton was left frustrated with his Ferrari strategy team in Las Vegas despite finishing in the points from last position on the grid.
The Brit came into the race off the back of his worst ever F1 qualifying session where he finished 20th place on pure pace for the first time in his career.
"It's very annoying, of course, because in P3 the car was feeling awesome and I thought it was going to be a great day and it turned out to be the worst. It can't get much worse than that," Hamilton said after qualifying.
Despite the disastrous qualifying, Hamilton managed to put on a vintage display on the Las Vegas streets and came home to score a point in 10th despite starting at the back.
Advert
That 10th place finish quickly became 8th after the double disqualification of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for excessive plank wear.
Hamilton's debut season at Ferrari has been unquestionably the worst of his career, currently 17-5 down in qualifying and 16-3 down in race head-to-heads against teammate Charles Leclerc.
The Brit has become to longest serving Ferrari driver to fail to score a podium and risks his first ever season off the podium if he can't finish third or higher in the remaining two rounds.
Hamilton has often let his frustration get the better of him prompting controversial comments from Ferrari CEO John Elkann, and despite a positive race he was still unsatisfied in Nevada.
Following the chequered flag Hamilton came on to the radio to quiz his engineer Riccardo Adami on the team's strategy decisions.
He said: "What happened with the strategy, how did I end up in 10th? I thought we were looking good at one point. How did Mercedes that were behind me get all the way up there?"
Hamilton appeared convinced he was pitted too early from the hard tire which he was managing well, leaving him with an extended stint on the mediums which could have damaged his race time.
Hamilton 'not looking forward' to 2026
Following the race Hamilton expressed his disappointment of a 'terrible result' when speaking to BBC Sport.
"It's a terrible result. There is nothing positive to take from today," Hamilton explained.
"I'm eager for it to end, I'm looking forward to it ending. I'm not looking forward to the next one."
When pressed by the reporter if that meant he was not looking forward to the next race in Qatar, Hamilton replied: "Next season."
Tom Jenkins