‘We can’t make the car worse’ - Lewis Hamilton seeks changes amid Mercedes struggles

Lewis Hamilton will look to make changes to his Mercedes F1 car ahead of qualifying at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion has endured a miserable weekend so far in Brazil. He failed to make the cut for the top-10 in sprint qualifying and was knocked out in SQ2, before a frustrating run to 11th in the sprint.

Hamilton lost ground on the opening lap and while he was able to recover to finish where he started, he admitted the 24-lap sprint race was “one of the worst of the year”.

"Probably one of the worst [races] of the year. The car was all over the place. It was a real, real struggle,” the outgoing Mercedes driver explained.

"Our car does not like this track. At least we have time now to make some changes going into qualifying. We definitely can’t make it worse."

Hamilton’s teammate, George Russell, fared better as he took sixth ahead of Alpine's Pierre Gasly. 

“It’s just how it is at the moment,” Russell commented. “Often those cars in the midfield are pushing in the beginning to be within the DRS.

“I think we finished the race six seconds behind Carlos [Sainz], six seconds ahead of Gasly, which is exactly what we thought would happen before the race.

“We will try to improve but we are not going to make a pole position, race-winning car from now until qualifying starts.”

Russell has closed to within nine points of sixth-placed Hamilton in the drivers’ standings.

Mercedes, meanwhile, remain fourth, 150 points adrift of Red Bull with four grands prix and one sprint race remaining this season.