“We are so far off the guys ahead, it feels like a long way away,” said Hamilton before pointing out two crucial elements that his team should seek to improve, “We need more grip, we need more power. We’re still really down on speed and it’s just not one fix, it’s several things.”

Indeed, porpoising issues blighted Mercedes’ pre-season tests and sparked early concern that they may not be able to compete for race wins straight away. Verstappen and Carlos Sainz both rubbished those comments as little more than mind games, given that the Silver Arrows have wasted no time in fixing pre-season issues before.

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