Rosberg pinpoints why Hamilton was “really down” after qualifying

Hamilton struggled for pace throughout as he was out-qualified by teammate George Russell for the second consecutive race.

The seven-time world champion lamented a “lack of grip” over team radio as he struggled to make it into Q3, leaving it very late to get a time on the board.

Rosberg - who went head-to-head with Hamilton for the 2014 and 2016 titles - offered his thoughts on Hamilton’s struggles.

“It was just a bit strange from Q2 onwards Lewis started to struggle a little bit even though in Q1 he was going well on the hards,” he said. 

• Hamilton flummoxed by Mercedes pace | ‘Not easy’ being leapfrogged by Williams

“It’s a challenge because you go from hard to medium to soft so the balance of the car can run away from you a bit. 

“Being a little bit off with the balance can cost you a lot of time so for some reason Lewis just didn’t find his way here today. It can happen that you have day like that. 

“You can see he’s really down, he still hates to come behind his teammate. That’s still the case.”

Hamilton currently sits fourth in the F1 drivers’ championship, 12 points behind Fernando Alonso.

Alonso will start tomorrow’s race from 10th.