Lewis Hamilton laughed off speculation he could quit Mercedes for a rival outfit and insists he has “100 per cent belief” in the team.

But he was also smirking as he admitted his team is miles off the pace set by Red Bull at the beginning of this new Formula 1 season. And, even though only one race weekend of 23 has been completed, the seven-time champion appears to have already thrown in the towel in terms of the title race.

Max Verstappen barely broke a sweat as he and his Red Bull team dominated in Bahrain. Hamilton spelled out the sheer size of the task he and his colleagues face to catch the defending champions.

He said ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP weekend: “Down the straights we’re quick but on the exits, these guys have a lot of rear end through the corners. I think in the race, they weren’t pushing so they’re a lot quicker even than they seemed. We have them as being a second and a half quicker in the race, per lap – something like that.”

After finishing fifth in Bahrain and failing to threaten the podium places, Hamilton took aim at his team and accused staff of “not listening” to his input when developing the W14 car. The Brit now admits: “It wasn’t the best choice of words,” and vowed to continue working closely with the team to close the gap.

He said: “We need the Red Bulls, Ferraris and maybe now the Astons not to finish the race for us to be winning, at the moment. But that doesn’t mean we can’t catch them up. None of us at this team have ever shied away from a challenge. We’d much prefer to be at the front, but that’s not the way it is.

“Hopefully, at some point during the year, we’ll be able to close the gap. But at that point it will probably be too late in terms of fighting for the championship.”

Regardless, Hamilton says he is paying no interest in speculation linking him with a move to a more competitive team and pledged: “Mercedes is my family and I’ve been here a long time, so I don’t plan on going anywhere else.”

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Defending champion and current standings leader Verstappen skipped media day in Jeddah after suffering from a stomach bug. But the Dutchman has travelled and expects to race this weekend.

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