It matches the problems he suffered throughout the first two grands prix of the season, which have left him in ninth place in the drivers’ championship.
After witnessing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc top the timesheets by nearly four-tenths of a second, Hamilton is probably itching to get a taste of the Italian machinery even sooner, having agreed to join the Maranello outfit in 2025 ahead of this campaign.
But for now, he has a long night ahead of him with the Mercedes engineering team, as they fight to find a fix for their frustrating car woes.
“[It] don't feel great [that] we had one of the worst sessions I've probably had for a long time,” Hamilton told the media.
“FP1 generally felt quite good. The car in FP1 run-one felt the best it's ever felt but it got just worse and worse and then we made some changes, big changes into FP2 and that was that.
“I mean after that session I feel the least confident I've ever felt with this car but we have positives from that FP1 run we did.”