SAKHIR: Lewis Hamilton on Monday admitted to concerns about Mercedes` early-season form after seeing Ferrari`s Sebastian Vettel remain unbeaten in Sunday`s Bahrain Grand Prix.
The 33-year-old defending four-time world champion said he had little idea how or why Ferrari had been able to outperform his Mercedes team, Vettel claiming a tense win ahead of Valtteri Bottas.
It was the German`s second win in as many races this season and installed him as a clear favourite to beat Hamilton to become a five-time champion.
`I am thinking and wondering,` said Hamilton.
`My thoughts are already on the world championship I`ve lost two races in a row now and I am 17 points down af ter just two races.
`Obviously, the grid penalty was difficult to swallow here this weekend, but I think the team did a really good job.
`Hopefully, when we go to China for the next race, we willhave a better understanding of the tyres and put up a better fight against Ferrari.
`Shanghai has been kind to me in the past so I am hoping I can bounce back.` Vettel won Sunday`s race despite admitting he felt Mercedes had him in `check-mate` when they adopted a one stop strategy.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said he believed that move had given his team a `90 per cent chance` of winning, with Bottas on durable medium tyres close behind Vettel who was on sof t tyres and a two-stop strategy.
But Ferrari switched strategy and asked Vettel to go the full distance meaning he ran 39 laps on used soft tyres to complete the race.
`I think we had won the race already af ter coming out on the medium behind Sebastian, with a gap that we were able to close down, and knowing that they would either need to stop once again or they would run out of tyre,` said Wolff.
