Hamilton very negative about "too hard" 2019 tyres

Lewis Hamilton doesn't "have a lot of good things" to say about the new 2019 Pirelli tyre compounds and also branded the identification system as "confusing".

To try and combat overheating and heavy blistering, Pirelli have used thinner-gauge tread to modify its rubber on the tyres.

But world champion Hamilton posted a joke on social media, with his dog Roscoe biting a Pirelli tyre and he even said the dog thought they were "too hard".

"That is why I said he concurs with me, they are a little bit hard," the Mercedes driver told Autosport. "What do you want to know, if the tyres are any good? I don't really have a lot of good things to say on that, so best I probably don't say anything.

"As we get into the year, it is going to be a challenge. They are more challenging this year than they were last (year). And we have all these different names of tyres - C5, C4, C3, C2 and C1 - which is for me personally even more confusing than all the colours that we had.

"We will get used to it, and it will be the norm. Valtteri (Bottas) seems to be enjoying driving the tyres out there and I will get a bit of a better feel for what the tyres are like.

"I've been driving on more fuel so it is never a good feeling generally in any year when you have more fuel on board. But we are all in the same boat and I will try to understand them the best I can."