Lewis Hamilton was left 'praying' for a better outcome in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after qualifying a lowly seventh at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. The British racer finished three spots behind his team-mate, Charles Leclerc. This weekend's venue is one of the toughest challenges an F1 driver faces during the season, and Hamilton was devoid of any confidence in his SF-25 machine throughout the free practice sessions.

After Friday's running in Jeddah, the seven-time world champion stated that his main objective was to make it into Q3. Hamilton managed that much, squeezing into the final part of qualifying by the skin of his teeth, but the 40-year-old couldn't make much of an impression in Q3. He will line up seventh on the grid, behind the man he replaced at Ferrari, Carlos Sainz.

Discussing another day to forget, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: "It was challenging, as always, qualifying for me. I'd been nowhere all weekend - 13th, I think in almost every session - so, honestly, I feel grateful to have got to Q3 and P7.

"Not a spectacular last lap, but have been making improvements all weekend. Needed a better lap at the end. But, as I said, I'm just grateful to be there. Still plenty of time to come."

Asked if he was hopeful for improvements on race day, he fired back: "Praying, more like! Trying to bond with this car on a single lap is something that I am finding very difficult at the moment. But we don't give up. When there's a will, there's a way. We keep pushing, keep trying, have got some amazing support so just keep working hard."

This qualifying result will taste extra bitter for Hamilton as he left the second leg of this triple-header in Bahrain with newfound optimism, believing that some of his findings from the weekend in Sakhir could contribute towards improving his qualifying form.

However, when the chequered flag waved in Q3, there was little to separate this session from the four that had gone before it in 2025. Hamilton now trails Leclerc four to one in the qualifying head-to-head battle for the season.

The performance offset is represented in the Drivers' Championship points standings, too. Despite his sprint race victory at the Chinese Grand Prix, Hamilton trails Leclerc by seven points with that gap projected to widen in Jeddah, should Sunday's race unfold as expected.