Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton said his struggles and problems at Ferrari will be painful and will last until the end of the season, after what he described as a terrible race at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Hamilton started and finished the race in Jeddah in seventh place, 30 seconds behind teammate Charles Leclerc, who took third place, behind winner Oscar Piastre of McLaren and second-place Max Verstappen of Red Bull.
"I can't take anything positive from it, except that Charles finished on the podium, which is great for the team. It was awful, not pleasant at all. I was just sliding around. There was no grip, the second tyre change was a bit better balance but still no pace. Pretty bad," Hamilton said, as reported by Sky.
Since winning the sprint race in China last month, Hamilton has not been better than his teammate in qualifying in Japan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
When asked about his slump in form since China, Hamilton replied: "I don't have the answers."
"There is no solution at the moment. It will be like this until the end of the year. It will be painful," added Hamilton, the record holder for the number of victories - 105 and a half positions - 104 in Formula 1.
Hamilton moved to Ferrari this year, after 12 years at Mercedes, and has to get used to a new car and a different driving style.
"Leclerc has been driving this car for a long time and he definitely knows it very well. He has a lot of data, for sure. It doesn't look much different in the data, I'm just going slower in the corners. We have a slightly different set-up. I need to see if that set-up is what the car likes. Leclerc and his team are obviously doing better. In qualifying I got the performance out, in the race I tried everything and the car just didn't want to go any faster," said Hamilton.
The Formula 1 championship continues on May 4th with the Miami Grand Prix.
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