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Good news for Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton says his W13 is not the worst car he has ever driven although it is “not far off” from his 2009 McLaren.

Hamilton had arguably his worst season ever as a Formula 1 driver in 2009 with his McLaren MP4-24 woefully off the pace in the first half of the championship.

In the final year in which only the top-eight scored points, Hamilton suffered a five-race streak without a single point.

He broke that streak at the Hungarian Grand Prix, claiming the victory as McLaren began to turn their season around.

This year he is again facing a difficult time in an under-performing car, the seven-time World Champion finishing a dismal P13 at Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

But while he concedes his W13 is not up to scratch, he says that 2009 McLaren is still by far the “worst” he has ever driven.

“There are people that watch and say that I’ve never had a bad car,” he said at Imola.

“And I can assure you I have. The 2009 car was very, very far off, and was the worst car that I’ve had.

“This car currently is not far off that experience, but I think has a lot of potential.

“As did that car, we fixed it eventually and got back in the fight, or in the game. And I have the utmost faith that my team can do that.”

The 37-year-old recalled that McLaren’s problem back then was downforce and the team missing the mark on that with the new 2009 regulations.

That was the season that Brawn GP stole a march on their rivals with their double diffuser.

“The scenario in 2009