Nico Rosberg admits Lewis Hamilton’s difficult start to life at Ferrari has been “hard to watch”, as the seven-time Formula 1 Champion continues to struggle for answers.
The British driver finished sixth in Barcelona, having started fifth after gaining a place from Max Verstappen’s grid penalty.
He made a strong getaway to get ahead of George Russell, but was made to let team-mate Charles Leclerc through and lost position to Russell through the pitstops.
Most of the front-runners switched to Soft tyres following a late Safety Car, but rather than gaining ground, he came under pressure and was passed by Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber.
A Sprint race victory in China has been the slight glimmer of hope in what is turning out to be a difficult debut campaign with the Scuderia.
A dejected Hamilton admitted after the Spanish Grand Prix that it was his worst race with Ferrari so far – a striking claim given the team radio fiasco in Miami and a disappointing 10th-place finish on his debut for the Prancing Horse, to name just a few.
The 2016 World Champion, who was on Sky F1 pundit duties last weekend, seemed genuinely pained watching Hamilton’s struggles at Ferrari.
He said: “It’s hard to watch. Sunday was a horrible day for him because he was just slow out there, which is very unusual.
“Yes, sometimes he’s off in qualifying, but in races he’s usually really awesome and the race was shockingly bad. He doesn’t have answers either.
“Was there damage on the floor? These floors are so sensitive and there can always be a bit there and you lose a lot of time.
“When you don’t have any answers, it’s really tough as a driver. Then you see your team-mate race their way to third place on the podium.
“In light of the whole season he’s had so far, it’s a very dark situation.”
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