Hamilton handed damning 'Is he back at Mercedes?' verdict

Lewis Hamilton has been likened to the dejected character who played out his final season at Mercedes last year following his post-qualifying comments for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Hamilton struggled for pace and performance in his Ferrari around the Bahrain International Circuit, qualifying a lowly ninth, and finishing a staggering six-tenths of a second adrift of Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.

That was despite the addition of a new floor on the car that in the hands of the Monégasque propelled him to third at the end of the session ahead of a promotion to second on the grid for the start following a one-place grid penalty for Mercedes' George Russell. 

In the written media pen after qualifying, Hamilton cut a disconsolate figure, with his answers to questions barely audible.

That left former F1 driver and Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok believing the clock had been turned back to last year when Hamilton seemed equally as lost on occasion

"I heard his comments and he sounded completely like he was on the floor," said Chandhok. "If I closed my eyes, it was like him wearing the Mercedes uniform last year.

"Didn't it just sound like him last year? How many times last year did we hear him say, 'I can't qualify'?

"I just closed my eyes and thought, 'Is he in a Mercedes race suit again?' It just felt like last year again. I don't know what's happened."

Hamilton turned 40 earlier this year, and there may be a suggestion that time has caught up with him, although he did qualify on pole for the sprint in China just three weeks ago, going on to clinch victory.

As to whether Hamilton's age has to be taken into consideration for his qualifying performance, Chandhok replied: "With age, the thing that you lose is the ultimate speed in qualifying, but six-tenths to Leclerc, it was a lot."