Hamilton shocked by Mercedes performance: 'I wasn't told'

The disappointment was great for Hamilton when it turned out in Bahrain that Mercedes was not even close to Red Bull Racing. Indeed, besides Ferrari, Aston Martin was also faster than Mercedes' factory team. Hamilton himself finished fifth as a result, and after the race he exasperatedly revealed that people within the team had not listened to him.

Hamilton backtracks on statements

A big tick for the technical team and Lewis himself now regrets it. ''I mean, in hindsight, I think looking back, it wasn't necessarily the best choice of words. I mean, there are, of course there are times when you're not in agreement with certain team members. But what's important is that we continue to communicate, we continue to pull together,'' Hamilton revealed during the press conference in Jeddah.

Hamilton's disappointment came mainly from expectations not being met. ''I think the comments that I would hear is that we probably won't hit the ground straight away at the front but we should be there or thereabouts. So yeah, it was a bit of a shock when that wasn't obviously the case.''

Hamilton therefore notes that the gap with Red Bull Racing is huge and the question is very much whether it can be closed in 2023. However, the seven-time world champion remains combative and 100 per cent behind his team.