Lewis Hamilton says he and Mercedes will "go back to the drawing board" to figure out what went wrong in the Russian Grand Prix, after finishing a lowly fourth.
The Briton was uncharacteristically off the pace all weekend in Russia, first struggling with balance issues in qualifying before having to battle overheating problems in his W08 during the race. Having been unable to move up the order at the start -- while teammate Valtteri Bottas snatched the lead with a superb getaway -- Hamilton ultimately failed to progress up the order and finished off the podium for the first time since the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix.
"Firstly a big congratulations to Valtteri, he did a fantastic job and deserves the win today," Hamilton said. "He's been fast all weekend, so exceptional and great for the team. For me, a very, very odd weekend. Once we got round the first couple of laps I was basically stuck where I was.
"I don't know if I would have been able to make a big difference moving forwards or not but I think I definitely had the pace to be with the pack. Ultimately positioning was everything."
Hamilton was often heard reporting temperature issues with his Mercedes over team radio in an attempt to rectify his persistent problems, even asking "why is my car overheating" at one stage. The triple world champion's car finally cooled down in the closing stages, though he crossed the line a distant fourth, a whopping 36s down on race-winner Bottas.
"I have not had that for, I don't remember the last time we had that," he said. "It just meant I was out of the race from the get go. I wasn't able to stay in the battle. I think I had the pace to fight with Kimi, the car was just overheating all the time. I'm sure we'll go back to the drawing board and try to figure it out.
"I think through the race I understood it. Speed-wise I think I know where it is. I'll try and fix it for the next one. I just wish I could have backed him up for the team in terms of points but I held on and did the best I could with what I had in the end. I think ultimately if I had better pace, then I would have been further up."
When asked if he can take any comfort from Mercedes winning the race ahead of Ferrari, Hamilton replied: "Of course. That's what the goal for the team is. It's great that we're ahead of the Ferraris, that's stopped Sebastian pulling away too far. I'm just hopeful in the next races I'll be able to pick up the pace."
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