Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton sees Baku challenge: 'Expecting to start on the back foot'

09:46, 12 Sep

Updated: 10:01, 12 Sep

byOlly Darcy

A pessimistic Lewis Hamilton expects that he and Ferrari will be "starting on the back foot" at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The Brit has had a challenging start to his Ferrari career after making the move from Mercedes, with the 40-year-old yet to step onto the podium in a Grand Prix.

There have been a couple of bright sparks for Hamilton in his first year with the Scuderia, with a sprint race win at the Chinese Grand Prix and a sprint race podium at the Miami Grand Prix being the best performances of the season.

However, there has been some criticism of the seven-time world champion, with former Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine saying the Brit "came [to Ferrari] a bit too old".

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, F1, FP3, Italian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton currently sits P6 in the drivers' standings on 117 points, 46 points behind teammate Charles Leclerc

Hamilton hoping for more in Baku

At Monza, there was some promise shown from Ferrari, with Hamilton moving up from P10 on the grid to P6 with some lovely moves at the 'Temple of Speed', with the track characteristics at Baku similar.

"I think I'm going to go there again, I'll be starting at a track that I've raced with a different car for many years," Hamilton started by saying to GPblog at Monza.

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With that being the case, the 40-year-old believes that he will start to feel his best just as the weekend in Baku will be coming to an end, despite being at a track that suits the SF-25.

"I think the car feels better here [at Monza], for example. It's better in low speed. I think the next race will be quite similar, I think.

"But I'll start on that back foot and build up to the weekend. I'll try to get as much of that experience as possible. But I'm sure Sunday, the last lap of the last race will still be the most comfortable."