Lewis Hamilton told the media following the third race of the season at Albert Park Circuit that this has been the worst start to the season he has ever had.

Mercedes finished the 2023 season in second place in the Championship, and after completely remaking their car ahead of 2024, their hopes were to come closer to the challenge of Red Bull.

However, the opposite has been confirmed so far. The gap to Red Bull stayed approximately the same, but the German team even lost ground to Ferrari and McLaren.

Mercedes’ W15 showed potential in some of the Free Practice sessions, but the performance disappeared ahead of the qualifying in all three race weekends so far.

The seven-time World Champion, who finished in third place during the most recent season, has scored P7 in Bahrain and P9 in Saudi Arabia and hasn’t even finished the Australian Grand Prix due to technical issues.

As Australian Fox Sports reported, the 39-year-old said after the Sunday race: “This is the worst start to a season I’ve ever had … it’s worse than 2009.”

“It’s tough on the spirit. I think for everyone in the team, when so much work has gone on throughout the winter for everybody and you come in excited, motivated and driven, and then you’re with the mindset that you’re going to be fighting for wins, and then obviously that’s not the case.”

Hamilton compared this season to 2009. That was the season right after his first Championship win, and therefore, it was disappointing to be disqualified in the first race, then finish 7th, 6th, and 4th, and then not even make it to the points in the next five races.

The 2024 season didn’t start much better for the seven-time World Champion, but there is still a chance Mercedes could improve in the upcoming race and break the negative streak. He added:

“It’s challenging, but I continue to be inspired by the people I work with. They continue to put in the effort and show up, and that’s the most important thing.”