Hamilton stunned by gap to Red Bull: 'A slap in the face'

Max Verstappen's dazzling pace amazed friend and foe alike. While Ferrari looked anything but perfect, Red Bull Racing seems to have come out of the summer break on top. Meanwhile, the gap to Mercedes has widened again, while the German team seemed to be closing the gap in recent races. Lewis Hamilton doesn't understand it at all and calls the gap of almost two seconds 'a slap in the face.'

After an unusually poor start to the season, Mercedes seemed to have finally closed some of the gap to Red Bull and Ferrari ahead of the summer break. The team was hopeful of continuing in the same vein and even dreamed of a win at Spa-Francorchamps, but that dream seems to have been shattered.

Hamilton speechless as Mercedes falls behind

"We've come here and we came here very, very optimistic that we would be close, half a second, who knows? And to be 1.8 seconds behind is a real kick in the teeth. It's a car that we continue to struggle with. Definitely won't miss it at the end of the year," sighed a dejected Hamilton in conversation with Sky Sports.

As far as he is concerned, Mercedes would do better to focus on the car for 2023. "For me, it's just to focus on building and developing next year's car. Our car looks so different to theirs [Red Bull and Ferrari], so we have a lot of work to do," continued the 37-year-old Briton. "We will do the best that we can with what we have for the rest of the season."