Mercedes might be further from F1's frontrunners than it was last year, according to Hamilton, who reckons his team is on the 'wrong track'. 'We're a long way off. We kind of knew that a little bit in the test, but it's a big gap.'
Hamilton ended the more representative second practice session down in 10th spot, once place ahead of Russell.
But with the new W14 lacking performance against pace-setters Aston Martin and Red Bull, Hamilton was downbeat about things on Friday evening."We kind of knew that a little bit in the test, but it's a big gap. I'm trying everything I can out there."was losing time to its rivals in both high-speed and low-speed corners, as he reckons Red Bull's race pace put it one second per lap up the road.
After enduring a difficult start to last season, as Mercedes struggled with the W13, Hamilton believes things had the potential to be even worse this year as he suggested the squad had been leapfrogged by Aston Martin.were second," he said."But I think on the long run, we're quite close to Ferrari, and it looks like the Aston was second.
"We're kind of between third and fourth. So we're kind of either where we were last year, or if not a little bit further behind."It's difficult for everybody. And this is really not where I think anyone in the team wants to be, and certainly not where I believe everyone deserves to be, because everyone continues to work so hard and really are so courageous and thoughtful in the process.
"We're just on the wrong track. So we've got to just continue to graft away and find a way to get ourselves on the right track. But right now, we're a long way off from the guys in front."
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