Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is confident Lewis Hamilton바카라s morale will not plummet despite his continued worst start to a Formula One season.
Hamilton fought back from his lowly 18th grid slot to finish ninth in Sunday바카라s Chinese Grand Prix. (More Motorsport News)
But the British driver, in his final season with Mercedes before his blockbuster transfer to Ferrari, leaves Shanghai only ninth in the standings after failing to finish inside the top six at either of the opening five rounds.
Indeed, Sunday바카라s result marked the third time he has crossed the line in ninth this year. Hamilton also trails team-mate George Russell 5-0 in qualifying.
But Wolff said: 바카라Lewis is a pro and he has behaved that way, trying to keep his morale up and the morale of the team up, even if the results have not come his way. I have no doubt this will last.바카라
Hamilton has now gone 50 races and 868 long days without a victory and he was exposed to yet another sobering afternoon in his uncompetitive Mercedes.
Following his worst qualifying result in seven years, Hamilton started on the quickest, but less-durable soft rubber, but just two laps into this 56-lap affair, his complaints began.
바카라I am making no ground on this tyre,바카라 he said after dropping from 18th to 19th.
Hamilton made the first of his two pit-stops on lap nine and rejoined back in 19th, 53 seconds off Max Verstappen바카라s leading pace.
바카라That was the worst tyre, man,바카라 said the despondent 39-year-old.
Hamilton was soon back on the intercom. 바카라I can바카라t even catch him (Alpine바카라s Esteban Ocon), man,바카라 he said. 바카라This car is so slow.바카라
Hamilton바카라s fortunes improved on lap 21 when he stopped for a second time, with the virtual safety car (VSC) deployed after Valtteri Bottas broke down.
And as the marshals struggled to shift Bottas바카라 stricken Stake, the VSC was upgraded to a full safety car, promoting Hamilton up the order.
He would be 12th at the restart, but he was still bemused by his unruly machine.
바카라The car is just sliding around everywhere,바카라 he said. 바카라It just feels like something is broken. It is really bad.바카라
Daniel Ricciardo suffered floor damage after Lance Stroll thumped into the back of his RB, elevating Hamilton into 10th before he swatted Haas바카라 Nico Hulkenberg aside.
Hamilton was then up to eighth as Fernando Alonso made a maverick third stop for tyres. But the 42-year-old took advantage of his fresh rubber to blast back through the field, relegating Hamilton back a place with seven laps remaining.
The seven-time champion took the chequered flag nearly one minute behind Verstappen.
바카라This is the worst season so far, as I mentioned at the last race,바카라 said Hamilton. 바카라It definitely wasn바카라t better than expected because we expected to finish there today.
바카라I have never had so much understeer in my life. I thought I damaged my car because there was debris on the track at one point, but it was just the way I set the car up.
바카라We finished second in the sprint race yesterday and, with better decisions on setup today, we would have been where George finished. We have to keep fighting.바카라
