F1 fans have urged Lewis Hamilton to retire in the wake of his poor performance in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday.
The 39-year-old had, earlier in the day, finished second behind Max Verstappen in a thrilling first Sprint race of the season.
Yet while Verstappen went on to secure pole ahead of tomorrow's big race in China, Hamilton dropped out in Q1 after an error at the hairpin.
He will, consequently, start down in 18th when the main event commences.
Lewis Hamilton has been told to 'retire immediately' by F1 fans after his Chinese Grand Prix qualifying nightmare
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Hamilton has already endured a problematic campaign, with Mercedes trailing rivals Red Bull and Mercedes.
He's currently down in ninth in the standings with Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, George Russell and Fernando Alonso ahead of him.
And F1 fans have taken to social media to urge Hamilton retire in the wake of his latest underwhelming day.
"Washed Lewis Hamilton got himself knocked out in Q1 and should retire immediately!" said one X user.
They also said: "Hamilton saying he’ll race into his mid 40’s.
"Don’t bother. Even watching you now is just embarrassing, making basic errors and getting knocked out in Q1
"Just retire and preserve your legacy whilst you still can. I know you want that 8th world title but it’s never gonna happen!"
A second user stated: "@LewisHamilton it's time to pass the baton on you were great but other drivers is coming through let go and retire with grace like Michael [Schumacher]."
A third said: "Needs to retire Lewis is finished."
A fourth reacted to Hamilton's disastrous performance by saying: "Think it’s time for Lew Lew to retire, can’t handle the pressure!"
And a fifth said: "If he can’t hack pressure. He should retire. Too many mistakes…. Hamilton was fine when he had a dominant car."
Hamilton spoke to Sky Sports after his latest poor showing - with the Stevenage-born racer saying 's**t happens'.
"I couldn't get the rears to stop in [corner] 14," Hamilton started
"This morning, George and I had very similar cars, but this afternoon we're trying to experiment still so I went one way a long way and he went the other way just to see if we can find anything.
"That's what we need to do at the moment but it didn't work.
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Lewis Hamilton will start the Chinese Grand Prix down in 18th after his qualifying nightmare
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"I'll give it my best shot. 18th is pretty bad.
"When I was making the setup changes I was like, 'it can't get any worse surely', and it did [laughs].
"So s*** happens."
Sky then issued an apology, with commentator David Croft saying: "Apologies for the language at the end of that interview there.
"Lewis Hamilton still thinking in confident mood that he can at least enjoy himself tomorrow."
Lewis Hamilton has won the Chinese Grand Prix six times over the course of his career but seems to have his work cut out ahead of Sunday's big event
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Hamilton has won the Chinese Grand Prix six times over his career so far.
But it's Verstappen, and Red Bull, who look set to dominate proceedings this year.
