‘It’s gutting’ – Lewis Hamilton makes worrying Mercedes admission after Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton worryingly conceded Mercedes are ‘so far off’ their rivals after picking up just a single point at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Hamilton started 16th on the grid after a disastrous qualifying session on Saturday and could only finish 10th on the Jeddah street circuit as reigning champion Max Verstappen won ahead of the two Ferraris.

The seven-time world champion is already 29 points behind title leader Charles Leclerc.

‘Right now we’re not fighting for the top step as you know, we’re so far off the guys up ahead,’ he said. ‘We’ve got a lot of work to do.

‘We need more grip and we need more power.

‘Balance-wise, the car felt good, but just not fast enough. The end result isn’t great but the race was going relatively well.

‘We were unlucky with how the VSC played out at the end but I was giving it everything.

‘Yesterday made the weekend so much harder and I take that on my shoulders.

‘It’s gutting but we need to keep fighting, it’s all we can do – I know I’ve got a great team and we’ll just keep our heads down.’

Hamilton got on the podium in third with an impressive drive in Bahrain in the season opener last weekend but so far his and team-mate George Russell’s cars look well off the pace.

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There will now be a two-week break before the Australian Grand Prix returns to the calendar after last year’s race was called off due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the 37-year-old knows there are plenty of improvements to work on.

‘Not much has changed, really, since the last race – it’s only