Hamilton bemoans Mercedes' lack of speed as Wolff declares Bahrain 'one of our worst days'

Team boss Toto Wolff declared Mercedes had "one of their worst days" in racing on Sunday after Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished fifth and seventh at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Austrian, who on Saturday said his team had to go back to the drawing board and re-design their car, was backed by seven-time champion Hamilton who said the former champions had slipped to become "the fourth-fastest team."

Red Bull dominated the race with double world champion Max Verstappen first to the chequered flag ahead of teammate Sergio Perez.

Fernando Alonso, 41, charged through to finish third on his debut with Aston Martin after outpacing Hamilton.

"They were just quicker than us," said Hamilton. "The Ferraris are quicker than us. We're the fourth-fastest team."

Carlos Sainz finished fourth for Ferrari after teammate Charles Leclerc's retirement with a power failure, while running third.

"That was one of our worst days in racing. It was not good at all," said a downcast Wolff, the man who had led Mercedes to eight consecutive constructors' championship titles from 2014 to 2021.

"We are lacking pace front, right, and centre. The Aston Martins are very fast and the Red Bull is just on a different planet.

"It hurts that they are so far ahead. It reminds me of our best years where we put one second on everyone else. That is the benchmark.

"We need to put one foot in front of the other to come back, but nobody in this team will throw in the towel.

"We need to dig deep, deeper than we ever have done before. And we can do that ..."

The bleak outlook for Mercedes was made worse by the knowledge that, essentially, Aston Martin are a "customer" team running a Mercedes engine, gearbox and transmission, but in a car designed independently.