Lewis Hamilton makes ‘don’t care’ admission about final races of Mercedes career

Having admitted he is is no longer fast on Friday, Hamilton’s pessimistic view continued after the sprint race as he suggested he was just running down the clock.

“I don’t have an answer,” he said when asked if they had learned anything to help them in the race. “At this point. I really don’t care. I just want to get through these next couple of races and do my job, turn up and looking forward to the winter break.

“I woke up this morning, and I think the most important thing is to leave with gratitude. So I’m really, really grateful that I get to do what I love doing, even when there are days that I don’t love it as much, and I’m really, really so lucky to be here amongst all these other amazing athletes.”

Hamilton’s words were heard by his former McLaren team-mate Jenson Button who backed Hamilton to recapture his best form.

“It’s sad to see the way that he is so deflated,” Button said on Sky Sports. “But there are still two more qualifying sessions and two more races.

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“I know Lewis pretty well and he bounces back very quickly, as we’ve seen in the past. So I’m looking forward to him having a very different qualifying session this evening and having a good race tomorrow.

“A few races ago, he won a race. So it’s not like it’s just been a terrible season. It’s just been the last of three races that have been really tough.

“And the thing is, it does spiral, and this is a mental game. All of these drivers have super talent, especially Lewis, but sometimes if your head’s not in the game, it doesn’t work.”