Lewis Hamilton issues statement after 'horror race' at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has reflected on a "horror" Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he finished ninth despite gaining two places late on following Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz's crash.

The seven-time world champion is attempting to put the disappointment of Baku behind him, having started the race from the pit lane after Mercedes' engine penalty. He was unable to make up ground in the race and copy Lando Norris' surge, but is hoping to bounce back in Singapore this week.

Hamilton had a similar strategy to Norris, starting on the hard tyre, but the McLaren man moved from P15 to P4 while his compatriot was going to end up without a point before being bumped up two places.

Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) Hamilton wrote: "Tough weekend, but we move. Good battles, and good effort from the team. Singapore soon, send good vibes."

On Instagram, he added: "The weekend started with a lot of positives but by the end it was a tough one for all of us. Still, we recognize what went well and will learn from what didn't.

"It wasn't easy, but I'm proud of every member of this team for the hard work that got us to the end. Congrats to George (Russell) on the podium, and to @francolapinto and @olliebearman as well. It was a great fight, and it's amazing to see so much new talent coming in."

After struggling to get past 19-year-old Ollie Bearman in the Haas for a large portion of the race, Hamilton finished a full minute behind Russell, with team principal Toto Wolff's attempt to cheer up his veteran driver falling on deaf ears.

"Lewis, good to make it to the end, that was a horror race," Wolff told Hamilton during his in-lap back to the pits. "I can so relate to it, we can all relate to it. At least we have taken the penalty now. Let's move forward, look forward."

Hamilton did not respond to Wolff's commiserations, only informing the team that Nico Hulkenberg had passed him while under Virtual Safety Car conditions.

The 39-year-old publicly disagreed with Mercedes' decision to change his power unit, knowing that he would struggle to overtake in Baku.

He teased the prospect of upgrades in the near future, but the Silver Arrows ran their old floor in Baku and will do the same in Singapore, before changing to a new one at the United States GP.

"I knew it was going to be a disastrous race as soon as this decision was made last night," said a dejected Hamilton after the race. "It was pretty good on Friday but I think the others have developed and we haven't in this phase - but we have some stuff coming."