Hamilton asks Mercedes to make "bold decisions and big moves"

Lewis Hamilton has been waiting for his next victory since 2021. Judging by the first Grand Prix, it will be some time before it comes, as the Mercedes seems to be far away from Red Bull, Ferrari and even Aston Martin in terms of speed.

Ahead of the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, Hamilton admits he saw it coming. "Once I drove the car for the first time, you start to do that. Understand what the challenges are that you're going to be facing. We are working as hard as we can, staying one as a team. Obviously, it's a shock when you find out the car is not where you want it to be. But everyone is working hard on the solution," the seven-time world champion said at the press conference.

He thinks his team is in worse shape than last season. "In the race, I think they weren't pushing so they're a lot quicker than they seem. But we have them as 1.5 seconds faster in the race per lap. Something like that."

Hamilton, however, is not giving up and confidently suggested he would win again. But wasn't so confident about the short-term future. "We need the Red Bulls not to finish the race, Ferraris and maybe the Astons not to finish the race for us to be winning. That doesn't mean we can't catch them out," Hamilton added.

So it is likely to be a tough year for Mercedes, but Hamilton is not giving up. "I still have 100% belief in this team. It is my family. I've been here a long time. I don't plan on going anywhere else. We all need a kick. We all need to get on. We've seen where the performance is and how people are extracting the performance. Now we've got to start making some bold decisions, some big moves in order to close the gap."