George Russell, Hamilton’s teammate, finished 11th on another dismal afternoon for Mercedes in the Sunshine State and was unable to advance to the final phase.

Hamilton declared over the radio, “I have got nothing,” after his early withdrawal from qualifying, which selects the starting grid for Saturday’s 19-lap race.

The seven-time world champion then left his Mercedes with a disappointed shake of his head.

The Silver Arrows have expedited the installation of an updated floor that was initially scheduled for the upcoming round in Imola in two weeks by bringing a redesigned machine to Florida.

However, the new package was unable to turn around the performance of a squad that was struggling to finish in fourth place among constructors.

Seeing both drivers crash out of Q2, team principal Toto Wolff buried his face in his hands.

After designer Adrian Newey confirmed he is leaving Red Bull at the end of the year, Verstappen pushed the team’s off-track issues aside to take the lead, and the Dutchman is on track to waltz to his fourth world championship in as many years.

“Lol,” he said over the radio after edging out Leclerc by 0.108 seconds. “What happened to the others? This was terrible but I will take it.”

For Ferrari, Daniel Ricciardo qualified fourth, Sergio Perez third, and Charles Leclerc second.

Nonetheless, Verstappen was taken aback that he had defeated his competitors despite appearing to be having trouble controlling his all-conquering Red Bull machine.