Second no consolation for downbeat Hamilton

A dejected Lewis Hamilton proclaimed he does not exist to finish second after a number of mistakes in Bahrain allowed Sebastian Vettel to steal the early march in this year’s championship fight.

Hamilton has so far been relishing the new dynamic of his title battle against Ferrari and their four-time champion. But Hamilton’s mood after the latest race suggested that particular honeymoon period may now be over.

Britain’s triple world champion owned up to the pitlane blunder which saw him illegally block Daniel Ricciardo and take a five-second penalty – one that scuppered any chances he had of challenging Vettel for the victory – and his sluggish start which allowed the German to sneak through at turn one.

But the Englishman was also left to rue a problem with his car in qualifying which he believes cost him a certain pole position. It left a downbeat Hamilton offering a very frank assessment of the third round of the championship here in the desert.

“Over the years, nothing changes and I feel pain in my heart,” Hamilton said. “People will be like ‘you finished second you should be happy’, but that is not why we exist. If anyone ever thinks I should feel happy with second, then I don’t really know what to say.

“When you have a strong fight it is a great feeling so I felt good on the podium after the race. But then you think about certain things.

“I lost two tenths of a second from turn 10 to 11 in qualifying because the DRS did not engage. I should have easily been on pole. Then, I lost position at the start – solely my fault. Then you get the time lost in the pit lane.

“I try to handle it the best way I can but it eats you up a little inside so you have got to cope with it and move forward.”

Hamilton, now seven points adrift of Vettel, will return to the cockpit today for the first of this week’s two-day test in Bahrain. The next stop on the calendar will be the Russian Grand Prix a week on Sunday.