Lewis Hamilton issued a rather damning verdict on his pace at the Spanish Grand Prix, adopting a painfully negative attitude after his sixth-place finish.

Hamilton had out-qualified team-mate Charles Leclerc for only the second time in his Ferrari career on Saturday, but that soon turned to woe when the Scuderia implemented team orders at the start of the race, with Leclerc clearly having more pace than the Brit.

Leclerc then went on to put himself among the top three cars in Barcelona, eventually joining Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris on the podium after a late safety car.

Hamilton, meanwhile, crossed the line in seventh after being overtaken by the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg towards the end of the race, and was only promoted to sixth due to a 10-second penalty for Max Verstappen.

Brookes, who had already had to deal with a rather frustrated and fiery Verstappen in the media pen, then pushed Hamilton on why he was so downbeat.

Hamilton’s triple header woes

Following a dismal start to life with Ferrari, Hamilton put in a brilliant performance at the Imola Grand Prix to achieve his best grand prix finish of the season, coming home in fourth having started the race down in 11th.

These poor results mean Hamilton is rooted to sixth in the drivers’ championship, 23 points ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli in seventh, but also 23 points behind Leclerc.