A downbeat Lewis Hamilton said there was nothing positive to take from his seventh-place finish at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion started and finished seventh in Sunday’s grand prix, which serves as his second best finishing position after a fifth-place finish in Bahrain last weekend.
Hamilton appeared to be making progress with his Ferrari in Bahrain, telling reporters in the aftermath he felt more comfortable with the car, but hopes of performance improvement seem to have faded at the start of the weekend in Jeddah.
Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc finished on the podium behind Oscar Piastri and runner-up Max Verstappen in Jeddah.
Hamilton told reporters: “[There is] nothing positive from today except from Charles finishing on the podium which was great for the team.”
Hamilton had a tussle with Lando Norris during the race, with the McLaren driver struggling to pass for sixth place for two consecutive laps between the final corner and Turn 1, before Norris finally made the move stick.
When asked by Sky Sports if he felt comfortable with the car during the race, Hamilton replied: “There wasn’t one second.”
He added: “Well clearly the car is capable of being P3, so… Charles did a great job today, so I can’t blame the car.”
Asked if he had any idea why he’s not clicking with the car, he simply replied “no.”
Hamilton said he needs to “go back to the drawing board” after feeling “nowhere” in Saturday’s qualifing session, but added he felt “grateful” to make it into Q3.
The 40-year-old has had mixed results in his first season at Ferrari with a sprint race victory from pole at the Chinese Grand Prix before he was stripped of a sixth-place finish the following day in the grand prix, alongside Leclerc, for technical infringements.
Team principal Fred Vasseur told reporters on Sunday he is not worried about Hamilton’s performance.
“I will be 2000% behind him and I will give him support here and we will start from tomorrow morning to try to find solutions. But honestly I am not too worried…if you have a look at what he did in China or what he did in the race in Bahrain last week or even in the first part of the session this weekend, the potential is there for sure.
“It’s not a transitional time, but for sure he’s down because when you finish the race in seventh and your teammate is on the podium, honestly I take it as positive that Lewis is down because if he was happy with this it wouldn’t be normal.
“He’s a racer, he’s a competitor, he wants to get the best from what he has and for sure he’s disappointed. Now we have to work together to react together and it will be the only way to move forward,” he added.
Hamilton has qualified and finished in the top 10 in the first five races and is seventh in the drivers’ championship.
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