Lewis Hamilton failed to offer his fans much hope of a strong result at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as he admitted he is "miserable" with his car.
The seven-time world champion could manage only eighth fastest in qualifying on Saturday. He will be bumped up by one place on the grid thanks to a 10-place penalty for Charles Leclerc, but that apparently did little to improve his mood.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he offered a bleak outlook on the rest of the season ahead as he admitted his true feelings about his W14 car. "I just don't feel the car underneath me," he said, after telling of his struggles "at high speed in particular" during qualifying.
Hamilton gave off a helpless energy as he struggled to answer questions about what exactly the main problem is. He added: "I just don't feel connected to this car and I can't get it. I don't really know what I'm going to do about that.
"It's miserable. It's tough. I'm giving it absolutely everything. I'm here as late as I can be every day and preparing as best as I can with the car, and I still just can't connect with it. I don't really know what to say."
Perhaps determined to try to look on the bright side, he then added: "George [Russell] had a good run today, so that's great. Hopefully he'll score some good points for the team and I'll try to recover. Tomorrow is a new day, so I'll give it everything."
Russell will start third on the grid behind only pole-sitter Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso, who is gunning for back-to-back podiums at the age of 41. Mercedes chief Toto Wolff appeared pleased with the result despite Hamilton's gloomy outlook.
The Austrian said: "I think it's where we expected to be. We know that we have the deficits, and we are in the ball park – we will move two tenths up or two tenths down. We need to do the big steps forward in the races to come.
"We also understand much better where there is a lack and we can also see here what we found in the wind tunnel. That will make us a few tenths faster. We're pushing through there now."
