Lewis Hamilton has admitted he's not "fighting for the Championship" after another disastrous day for Mercedes in Imola.
The seven-time world champion was 14th in the Saturday Sprint Race, actually dropping back a position from his initial starting place. Team-mate George Russell meanwhile, was 11th, also failing to make any significant impact.
Both had exited in Q2 yesterday, to the obvious despair of team boss Toto Wolff. And unlike Hamilton's famous Sprint Race display at Interlagos last year, there was be no dramatic recovery, compounding what has already been a dreadful start to the season for the constructors' giants.
It meant neither added to their total in the F1 drivers' standings, with only the top eight scoring points. It was Red Bull driver Max Verstappen who ultimately took a thrilling win, overtaking Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc on the penultimate lap.
In his post-race interview Hamilton, 37, cut a despondent figure. But it wasn't just hopes of a win in Emilia Romagna he dismissed, but also any chance he has of battling for an unprecedented eighth world title in 2022.
"We stick together, we try to motive everyone," he said. "This is the situation that we’re faced with but, everyone’s got their head down, everyone’s working as hard as they can.
"We’re obviously not fighting for this championship but, we’re fighting to understand the car and improve and progress through the year. That’s all we can hope for right now."
After a fortuitous third place finish at the opening race of the season Bahrain, the British icon exited Q1 in Saudi Arabia before eventually finishing 10th the next day. He was then fourth at the Australian Grand Prix, leaving him on just 28 points and now already 50 off leader Leclerc.
Russell however, didn't discount the notion of both drivers moving up the field on Sunday: "It is tricky in these sprint races. It felt processional from where we were. We have work to do," he admitted.
"Strategy will be key tomorrow and we will have to do something different from others and give us the opportunity to fight and move up the grid. It has been a difficult weekend for us."
Russell even added he felt the Silver Arrows have exceeded themselves with their displays thus far: "We probably overachieved in the first three races and this weekend we are probably behind where we want to be," he added.
Verstappen had to recover from bering surpassed by Leclerc at the start before racing was held up by a yellow flag after Guanyu Zhou crashed into the wall. However, the Dutchman eventually struck on the 20th and penultimate lap to take eight points, and pole for the Grand Prix.
