The seven-time champion has remained positive throughout the opening races of the season, despite finishing seventh in Bahrain and ninth in Saudi Arabia.
Mercedes had hopes for improved performance going into this weekend’s race in Melbourne, but Hamilton was left frustrated after he finished 18th in Friday’s second session.
he Brit had struggled with set-up changes made to the car throughout the day, after finishing ninth in the first session.
I obviously don’t feel great,’ Hamilton told Sky Sports. ‘We had one of the worst sessions I’ve probably had for a long time.
We made some big changes into P2 and it was tough.
After that session, I feel the least confident I’ve ever felt with this car but
Hamilton ended the hour of running 18th on the times sheets, one-and-a-half seconds slower than pace-setter Charles Leclerc and eight-tenths of a second off George Russell in the other Mercedes. He only lapped quicker than Kevin Magnussen’s Haas, as Williams driver Alexander Albon did not take part in the session.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said they “experimented” with different set-ups on their two cars “but we haven’t unlocked performance.”
“In the second session [we’ve] gone through a really quite dramatic set-up change on Lewis’ [car] and that has massively backfired,” he told Sky. “But this is why we’re having those sessions.
