Lewis Hamilton fears he will not be in contention to battle for a record-breaking eighth world championship. Just one week out from the season-opening race in Bahrain, a downbeat Hamilton said Mercedes are behind Max Verstappen’s Red Bull team and Ferrari in the pecking order. ‘It is too early to have those kind of thoughts about the world championship, but at the moment I don’t think we will be competing for wins,’ said Hamilton. Mercedes struggled in testing last year, only for Hamilton to beat Verstappen at the first race. However, Hamilton, said Mercedes have been disturbed by Formula One’s greatest upheaval of its technical rulebook in a generation.

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