Lewis Hamilton has explained where his Mercedes was ‘miles off’ the pace during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

It was another frustrating race for Mercedes with both of their drivers failing to challenge the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull.

Speaking after the race, via Channel 4, Hamilton explained what was going wrong with his car.

Hamilton says his Mercedes was ‘miles off’ during Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

After finishing runners-up to Red Bull during the 2023 season, it appears as though Mercedes haven’t managed to take the same steps forward as their nearest rivals over the winter.

Red Bull have once again created a gap to the rest of the field but Ferrari are the now the clear second-quickest car.

It leaves Mercedes battling with McLaren and Aston Martin and both of their lead drivers finished ahead of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

Oscar Piastri’s 4th place was very impressive while Fernando Alonso once again punched above his weight in a middling Aston Martin.

Hamilton has now explained where his Mercedes was losing time in Saudi Arabia compared to its rivals.

Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images

The seven-time world champion would have liked to end his time with the team on a high ahead of his move to Ferrari.

At this rate, he might end up ticking down the races until the start of next season if he’s only challenging for minor points each week.

Hamilton continues to voice frustration with W15

Speaking about his race in Jeddah, Hamilton said: “The car is relatively good in the low speed and not so bad in the medium but in the high speed we are miles off.

“The guys were, it was like I was in a different category when I was going through the high speed [corners] between the other guys around me.

“So, it’s frustrating for sure to be three years in a row in almost the same position.

“It’s definitely tough but I know we’ll get our heads down and we’ll keep working away and I know everyone back at the factory is pushing as hard as they can but we’ve definitely got to make some big changes.

“We know we haven’t made big enough changes perhaps, you look at the three teams ahead of us, they still have different concepts to where we are in some areas.

“So, we’ve got some performance to add, that’s for sure.”

Hamilton will hope Mercedes can fix the issues they struggled with in Saudi Arabia quickly.

He complained that the rear of his car was bouncing during free practice which made driving in high-speed areas difficult.

Mercedes were only quicker than Haas through one section of the track and with that level of performance, they’re going to struggle to challenge for podiums, let alone race wins.

It will be fascinating to see if they are capable of bringing any upgrades to Melbourne that will help them close the gap at the front of the grid.