Lewis Hamilton raged at his ‘worst’ start to a Formula 1 season after retiring from the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The seven-time champion suffered an engine failure early in the race and has fewer than half the points accumulated by team-mate George Russell in the span of three events.

A headline-making switch to Ferrari for 2025 may be the only positive the veteran is feeling currently, with Mercedes appearing to have a lot of work ahead of them to get anywhere near the front of the field again.

The Englishman’s future employer claimed an astounding one-two finish down under, underlining their readiness to be in a position to compete with Red Bull now.
As it stands, he remains ninth in the championship standings but is aware that improvements will come soon to his W15 car.

“I mean, this is the worst start to season I’ve ever had,” he told reporters, sharply.

“Oh, yeah, for sure. And it’s worse than 2009 I think. Surprisingly, I feel pretty good. I’m trying to keep things in perspective, you know, this like, could be so much worse.

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“I’m really grateful. I’ve really enjoyed my time here in Australia, I’m still enjoying working with a team. Of course, I’d love to be fighting for wins and actually finishing races.

“It’s never a great feeling when you come all this way, and you don’t see even half of the race, but what I know is that we will bounce back, we will eventually get there, we just have to continue to chip away.”

Hamilton now gets two weeks to debrief with the Silver Arrows before heading to Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix.

It’s a significant change from its usual October slot in the calendar, meaning that rain could be on the horizon and a big help for Hamilton’s hopes.