Mercedes urged to improve on ‘baby steps’ by Lewis Hamilton and George Russell after F1 Saudi Arabian GP

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have warned their Mercedes bosses that they have their work cut out to close the gap on Ferrari and Red Bull in the championship fight.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton finished a relatively lowly 10th place after the late virtual safety car denied him the prospect of a higher finish allied to the Mercedes’ lack of outright pace. Russell came home fifth.

Hamilton had managed a surprise third place at the season opener in Bahrain but struggled throughout the weekend in Saudi Arabia.

After just sneaking into a points finish, Hamilton said: “We’ve got a lot of work to do. I know I’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ll try to improve, we’ll work hard.

“I don’t feel like… much has changed since the last race. Today, I couldn’t keep up with the Haas at the end.”

In contrast to Hamilton, teammate Russell extricated the maximum possible from the Mercedes to finish fifth behind the two Ferraris and Red Bulls after a captivating 50-lap race.

Afterwards, Russell said: “That was the maximum today. It’s the most physical race I’ve ever experienced in Formula 1. The car was feeling generally good but we’re lacking overall grip.

“I want to be pushing for victories not P5 all by myself. We’re a second behind Red Bull and Ferrari on average.

“We’re making baby steps. We need to make bigger steps. I’m sure we can do that... [on what] timeline? I don’t know because the others are improving as well.”