Mercedes have real big problems, says Hamilton

Formula One world champions Mercedes had some “real big problems” to fix with their car, Lewis Hamilton said on Sunday after finishing second in the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Briton, 34 points clear of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and on his way to a fourth title, started in pole position but lost out to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Hamilton was helped by an engine problem sidelining Vettel in qualifying and another issue preventing the German’s teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, from taking his place on the front row of the starting grid.

But Verstappen was significantly faster once the race started while Vettel showed the Ferrari’s potential by going from last to fourth and beating Hamilton’s teammate, Valtteri Bottas.

“There is [a fair amount of work still to do] but there’s nothing we can do,” Hamilton, who was also gifted a win in Singapore two weeks ago, when both Ferraris collided at the start, told Sky Sports television. “It’s the way the car is. I think globally, we have not got the best car and we’ve done an exceptional job with what we have. There are some real big problems that I can’t really explain to you.

“But we really need make sure we rectify them for next year’s car if we’re going to have any chance of fighting both these teams next year when they step up their game.”

Hamilton said that the car was good at some races and not at others, but that Mercedes would do everything they could to stay ahead.

Team boss Toto Wolff also sounded far from celebratory, despite Hamilton stretching his lead by six points with a hefty dose of luck. “I am just very down, I must say,” said the Austrian. “We have lost so much pace this weekend … how can a car that is so fast on many circuits lose so much with a tyre that is overheating?

“Probably if you look at the real pace today, it would have been P5 [fifth]. Let’s see what happens in Japan.”