At a circuit that Hamilton has always enjoyed, he qualified fifth in the shootout but fell away to a distant seventh in the sprint itself, losing places to Charles Leclerc and Yuki Tsunoda.

In just 24 laps he dropped 34.7 seconds behind winner Max Verstappen, having chased the Dutchman home in the US GP before his disqualification, and also put in a charging drive to second in Mexico.

“The last couple of races we’ve been excited that we’re progressing, and it’s been really positive to see,” said Hamilton.

“And you come to another track and then you have the worst deg that you’ve had for ages. So it’s like you just don’t know what to expect with this one.

“But only a couple more races with this car and it’s gone, and I’ll be happy! This year, you’re just counting down the days, trying to enjoy every day as you can.”

Hamilton said that he struggled with the balance of the car from the early stages.

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Mechanics bring Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14, to the Sprint grid

“It was a very tough race,” he said. “I think we got a good start and then… balance. We tried to get the right balance with the wing, just a lot of understeer, snap oversteer, and the rear tyres just dropped off. And in the mid-sector, huge understeer.

“I don’t know whether we got the set-up wrong. We probably got the set-up wrong, but it is what it is.”

He added: “I think we have one the draggiest cars. Our floor is not as strong as perhaps the Red Bull for example, so we have to have a really big wing, and then we’re just slow on the straight. We can’t use anything smaller.”

Hamilton downplayed the chances of cooler conditions potentially helping the team in Sunday’s main race, which he will start from fifth place.

“I don’t think that’s going to help,” he said. “It’s one of those circuits that’s challenging for tyres, but that’s the worst deg I think I’ve ever had here. I can’t remember the last time I had that bad a deg here.”