Lewis Hamilton gave another reason for Mercedes fans to be concerned as he reacted to his engine failure in Melbourne.

Hamilton’s race at the Australian Grand Prix came to an end just 17 laps in. He reported the problem with his car over the radio and was forced to pull over at the side of the track shortly afterwards having lost power.

A Mercedes spokesperson confirmed soon after that Hamilton’s suspicion that his engine had failed was correct. And, speaking after the race, the seven-time F1 champion explained how it had felt in the car.

He said: “I think the engine seized. It just appeared out of nowhere, like a split-second thing.” It was a blow for Hamilton and Mercedes, even if they were not in contention for big points in Melbourne.

He was a long way off the hunt for victory having started 11th on the grid. And his lack of pace concerned him – especially after coming up against the Red Bull of Sergio Perez on track, for which his Mercedes was no match.

Hamilton pointed out the “massive gap” between the two teams. He said: “There’s a massive gap. I think they have a second on us, something like that. He was on fresh tyres but, yeah, just the way he pulled away down the straight… the same as last year.”

To make matters worse for Mercedes, neither of their cars took the chequered flag. George Russell was on course to score minor points for the team but, as he pushed to catch Fernando Alonso, the Briton lost control of his car and smashed into the wall.

The car flipped up and came to rest on its side after skidding through the gravel. Fortunately, Russell was able to extract himself and was uninjured. The stewards investigated the incident amid accusations that Alonso may have brake-tested the Mercedes driver.

Russell stopped short of making that accusation himself, but suggested something was strange about the incident. He said: “I’ve gone off and that’s on me, but I was half-a-second behind Fernando 100 metres before the corner and, suddenly, he came towards me extremely quickly and I was right on his gearbox.

“I don’t know if he had a problem or not – it’s gone to the stewards. That’s a bit bizarre in a circumstance like this. I’ve got nothing more to say right now, I’m just disappointed to end the race like that.”