Lewis Hamilton has expressed his disappointment with yet another unsatisfying session with Mercedes.
The seven-time world champion struggled throughout the first day of running for the Australian Grand Prix, ahead of his departure from the team at the end of the season.
It matches the problems he suffered throughout the first two grands prix of the season, which have subsequently 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.
But for now, he has a long night ahead of him with the 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.”
His only hope may be a small chance of rain for Saturday’s qualifying session which rests at 30 per cent.
Without a miracle, Mercedes could be facing an embarrassing Q2 exit – and that’s without any external factors affecting them.