Lewis Hamilton believes that winning the Las Vegas Grand Prix would have been easy if he had done better in Q3 on Friday.

Hamilton made mistakes on both of his flying laps in Q3. On his first attempt, he locked up at Turn 14, and during his second run, he slid at Turn 4, which resulted in the stewards deleting his time.

Hamilton’s quickest lap from Q2 would have placed him third on the grid, but instead, he started from 10th, requiring him to fight his way up. He managed to make some early overtakes on Nico Hulkenberg, Oscar Piastri, and Yuki Tsunoda, putting him back in contention.

As the race progressed, Hamilton showed better pace than the other front-runners, with Mercedes even looking strong on the cooler, low-grip track. However, his attempt to catch his teammate George Russell, who was leading, ultimately failed.

"That was great," Hamilton said. "First, a big congratulations to Max for winning the championship, even with a few races still to go.

"If I had done my job yesterday, today would’ve been a breeze. But it’s okay. I had fun coming from 10th, and the team did a fantastic job. We’re not sure why we were so quick this weekend, but the car felt the best it ever has. I’m grateful to be part of getting it to this point.

"Maybe the reason we did so well is because it was cold. In hot conditions, we tend to struggle. If the car performs like this in the upcoming races, we should be in a good position to challenge the front-runners. The championship is settled, so now it's all about fighting for the best possible positions."

Meanwhile, Russell described his victory in Las Vegas as a dream weekend, and like Hamilton, was surprised by Mercedes’ pace throughout the weekend.

"I was planning on flying in a couple of hours, but now I’m definitely not getting on that flight," said Russell. "I'm going to enjoy the evening with my team. It’s been a dream weekend. I’m not sure how we were so quick, but I’m just riding this wave. I can’t even describe this place.

"To win here, take pole position, dominate the weekend, and finish with a one-two with Lewis—it couldn’t have happened in a better place. I kept waiting for something to go wrong. In the two previous races where I’ve been on pole, there’s always been chaos—rain, dry conditions, and incidents. Last time in Brazil with the red flag, I thought, ‘I feel good here, I have a solid gap, but I’m just waiting for something to happen.’ And it didn’t. So I guess my luck has turned!"