Lewis Hamilton says a Formula 1 victory at the Las Vegas Grand Prix would have been “a piece of cake” if he had been able to complete a lap in qualifying on Friday.

The Brit made mistakes on both flying laps in Q3, after getting stuck at Turn 14 on his first attempt and then sliding at Turn 4 in his second – ultimately leading to the time being scrapped.

Hamilton’s fastest lap from Q2 would have been good enough for third on the grid, but he instead started from 10th and had one more gap to catch up; early passes from Nico Hulkenberg, Oscar Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda helped him get into contention.

He then showed stronger pace than the other front runners as Mercedes looked at home on the cooler, low-grip track surface, although an attempt to close in on his winning teammate George Russell eventually came to a halt.

“That was great,” Hamilton noted. “First of all I have to congratulate Max on winning the championship, with a few races to go.

And if I had done my work yesterday, today would have been a piece of cake. But it’s okay. I had fun coming from the back, from tenth and the team did a fantastic job.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

“We don’t know why we were so fast this weekend, but that’s the best the car has ever felt. So I’m grateful that I was able to be a part of getting it to this point.

“Maybe the reason we did so well is because it’s cold. When we are in a warm climate, we have the most difficulty with this.

“If the car runs like this over the next few races, I think we’ll be in a good place to challenge the guys at the front. The championship is over, so now it’s just an all-out battle for the best possible positions. .”

Russell described his victory in Las Vegas as a ‘dream weekend’ and, like Hamilton, was surprised that Mercedes were able to maintain their pace throughout the weekend.

He admitted that he expected chaos to ensue behind him, and was pleasantly surprised that he was able to take the lead with very little to derail him from his path to victory.

“I was planning to fly in a few hours, but I’m definitely not going on that flight and I’m going to enjoy this evening with all my team,” Russell said.

“It was a dream of a weekend. I don’t know how we would have been that fast, but I’m just riding this wave right now. I can’t even describe this place.

“To get the win here, pole position, dominant weekend, one-two with Lewis too, we couldn’t have chosen a better place to make this possible.

“I was just waiting for something to happen. The two races I rode on pole before, it was always chaos.

“Rain, dry and something always happens. The last race in Brazil with the red flag. I thought: ‘I have confidence here. I have a good lead, but I’m just waiting for something to happen’. And it did ‘t. So I guess my luck has turned around!’

Photos from the Las Vegas GP race