Lewis Hamilton says his Mercedes team is "on the wrong track" and "a long way off the guys in front" as his 2023 season got off to a miserable start in the opening practice sessions for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
In the second stint, Hamilton could only struggle to eighth place behind surprise pacesetter Fernando Alonso and the seven-time world champion declared: "We found out we are a long way off the guys in front. We kind of knew that from the test but it's a big gap. We are just on the wrong track."
Mercedes had a miserable start to 2022 and it looks as though it will be more of the same this time around as Hamilton went on: "We look as if we are where we were last year if not a little further behind.
"It's difficult for everybody and it's certainly not where we wanted to be or where the team deserves to be. There was progress through last year, but the gap wasn't as big as it is now. So do I believe we can close the gap at some stage? Yes. But I think it's quite hard with the concept we have."
Even after just one day of official practice for the first of 23 races, Hamilton's comments are damning and suggest a long season of struggle for the 38-year-old and his team-mate George Russell, who could only finish 13th in second practice.
In that session, veteran Alonso, in the Aston Martin, led the way with the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in second and third. And Hamilton is already resigned to the fact that the gap between Mercedes and Red Bull will be huge in the opening races.
He said: "Looking at Red Bull's long runs, they are a second a lap faster. I think I've got the car in the best place I can get it setup-wise. We'll continue to tweak bits here or there but it's going to be milliseconds rather than closing the gap of a second."
Alonso said after topping those FP2 timesheets: "It's another step in the direction and the car still feels good. But we need to wait and see. At the moment, there is still not much focus on times because we have to improve a few things on the car in terms of setup.
"Also, it's still very early days. We're still changing a lot of things and trying to reinforce the team in every area, not only on the car performance. It's going to be a very interesting process, but the team is learning every day."
