LEWIS HAMILTON retired from the Australian GP with an engine failure and declared the opening three races as his “worst start” to a season.
The 39-year-old lasted just 15 laps before he pulled over when his power unit shut down.
His DNF comes after a seventh-place finish in Bahrain and he was a lowly ninth in Saudi Arabia.
On Friday, he declared that Mercedes‘ latest pig off the production line “messes with the mind” due to its poor performance.
Hamilton has decided to ditch Mercedes and move to Ferrari as he believes the Italian team will present him with the best opportunity to win titles again.
And while he wants to go out with a bang with Mercedes, his latest set-back means he is down in ninth place in the drivers’ championship.
He said: “This is the worst start to a season I’ve ever had.”
When asked if it has been worse than 2022 and 2023 where he went winless, not helped by two poorly-designed cars, Hamilton added: “Oh, yeah, for sure.
“Surprisingly I feel pretty good. I think I’m trying to keep things in perspective, you know?
“It could be so much worse, I’m really grateful and have really enjoyed my time in Australia.
“I’m still enjoying working with the team, of course I’d love to be fighting for wins and finishing races.
“It’s never a great feeling when you come all this way and don’t even see half of the race, but what I know is that we will bounce back and will get there, we just have to chip away at it.
“I think it’s tough on the spirit for everyone in the team, when so much work is going on throughout the winter for everybody, 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. And then you’re like, ‘Okay, maybe second, third’.
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“No, it’s not the case, and it cascades a bit further down. And you just go through the motions. It’s challenging.
“But I continue to be inspired by the people I’ve worked with. They continue to put in the effort and show up and that’s the most important thing.”
Meanwhile, Hamilton’s teammate George Russell crashed on the final lap after swerving to avoid Fernando Alonso.
The accident left Russell’s car on the side in the middle of the track and him calling for the race to be stopped.
Both drivers were hauled to see the stewards, who penalised Alonso for “potentially dangerous driving” by lifting off the throttle.
The two-time world champion escaped with an incredibly lenient penalty of having 20 seconds added to his total time, dropping him just two places to eighth.
Speaking before the stewards’ verdict, Russell said: “I’m not going to accuse him of anything until we see further.
“I was right behind him for many, many laps. I was half a second behind him before the corner
“Then, suddenly he slowed up dramatically and got back on the power. I wasn’t expecting it and he caught me by surprise.”
Alonso later added that he felt the penalty was unfair.
He said: “In the closing laps, George caught me quickly. I knew that he was coming, then he was in DRS range for five or six laps, so I was just doing qualifying laps to stay ahead.
“I wanted to maximise my exit speed from turn six to defend against him. That’s what any racing driver would do, and I didn’t feel it was dangerous.
“It’s disappointing to get a penalty from the stewards for what was hard but fair racing. Still, I’m glad that George is okay. It was not nice to see his car in the middle of the track.”
