Lewis Hamilton expressed frustration over the pace of his Mercedes after finishing ninth during the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Mercedes came to Jeddah for the weekend with hopes of showing a better performance than in Bahrain. As the team principal, Toto Wolff asserted that Silver Arrows hadn’t shown their full potential in the first race.

Then, the Friday qualifying session showed that Mercedes didn’t necessarily have the fastest car in terms of one-lap speed, but the German team still hoped to match Ferrari and McLaren during the race.

Lewis Hamilton started the Saturday race around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit from P8, which he hoped to improve by several positions. However, he finished ninth, he told Sky Sports after the race.

“It’s frustrating for sure to be three years in a row almost in the same position. It’s definitely tough, but we will keep out heads down and we will keep working away.”

The strategy played a key role in the seven-time World Champion’s performance. On the seventh lap of the race, he decided not to pit for the first safety car, which initially gained him quite a few positions.

The gamble was that another safety car or a red flag would allow him to make the stop a bit later, but that didn’t happen. Nevertheless, the Mercedes driver was missing performance in his car. He continued:

“I know everyone back in the factory is pushing as hard as they can, but we definitely have to make some big changes. We haven’t made big enough changes, perhaps.”

Mercedes seemed to be the third fastest car during the first race in Bahrain. However, the second race in Saudi Arabia suggests it might even be the fourth or fifth fastest. The field behind Red Bull is very close, and Hamilton suggests his team needs to make some improvements.

“If you look at the three teams ahead of us, they still have a different concept of where we are in some areas, so we’ve got some performance to add for sure.”