Lewis Hamilton makes worrying Ferrari confession as Brit gets brutally honest in Jeddah

admitted that he is clueless as to why he struggled so much at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion couldn't make it past Mercedes' teenage starlet as he finished seventh in Jeddah. Hamilton left Bahrain last weekend feeling optimistic that he had discovered some clues that could help him regain his confidence, but there was no sign of that coming true in Jeddah.

The legendary Brit struggled through all three practice sessions and couldn't make inroads from his P7 grid slot in the Grand Prix on Sunday. Meanwhile, Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc ran an exceptional race. The Monegasque racer qualified fourth but leapfrogged in-form George Russell with an aggressive alternative strategy, running long on medium compound tyres. He crossed the line to record the Scuderia's first podium finish of the season.

In the media pen afterwards, Hamilton cut a dejected figure. "No, there wasn't one second, no," he replied when asked if he ever felt comfortable behind the wheel of his SF-25 machine.

Going into detail about his struggles, he added: "Well, clearly the car is capable of being P3, so... Charles did a great job today. So I can't blame it on the car." Asked if he had any idea why he was not experiencing the same joy, he shook his head before replying: "No."

The impact on the Drivers' Championship standings is that Leclerc is now 16 points clear of Hamilton, despite the seven-time world champion having a sprint race victory under his belt. However, in the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari are now just 11 points behind Red Bull as a result of Yuki Tsunoda's lap-one DNF.

Despite the worrying state of affairs for Hamilton, the 40-year-old is not giving up on his dream move to Ferrari. "There are changes that are short-term that we will do together," he explained, heading into the weekend in Jeddah.

"[We will] keep all the greatness and keep building the areas that we could be stronger in. And some of those could be short-term, and some of them are longer-term. There's so many great things within this team, and so we want to harness the energy and the passion that's within the team.

"We also have to protect the team, as well, because the spotlight is more on this team than any other team. Everyone in this team really, their heart is so in it. We're riding the rollercoaster ride up and down together. And I have no doubts that we will get to where we plan to be. It's just going to take time."