Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton sounded downtrodden once again after Saudi Arabian GP practice proved challenging once again.

The new Ferrari driver admitted his tendency to go “backwards” on Saturday, which will be particularly frustrating after finishing FP2 in 13th.

What are Lewis Hamilton’s chances in the Saudi Arabian GP?

Lewis Hamilton has struggled to adapt to his new Ferrari SF-25, and it’s looking to be more of the same this weekend at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

At the moment, Hamilton currently sits seventh in the championship standings with 25 points — seven fewer than teammate Charles Leclerc in fifth, and 52 adrift of championship leader Lando Norris.

The highly anticipated move has been challenging for the seven-time champion, and in Saudi Arabia, it’s been more of the same.

The winner of the 2021 edition finished FP1 eighth on the charts before dropping back to 13th in FP2, the session most representative of qualifying and race conditions.

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And he’s not expecting much from Saturday, either.

When asked by media if he could improve his performance come qualifying, Hamilton said, “Normally Saturday goes backwards, but there’s not a lot of backwards for me to go from where I am.”

Despite that concerning admission, he did find something to be positive about.

“Hopefully overnight we’ll make some improvements to the car,” Hamilton said.

“There’s a few bits through the session that felt good, just once we get to the soft tyre it’s not there. We’ll make some changes overnight and hope tomorrow we can come back a bit stronger.”

Still, he noted that the car wasn’t “the greatest” during practice, and that “getting the tyres working today was the issue from my side.

“It’s got nothing to do with the team, it’s just, we’re struggling to get the tyres working.”

Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc were both experimenting with different set-ups during Friday practice, and Hamilton acknowledged that the team may “possibly” converge their setups heading into the remainder of the weekend.

“We’ll work together tonight to see because through both sessions we’re trying different things across both cars to then converge — so wind settings and all sorts,” he said.

“I’m hoping tomorrow we’ll have a better understanding after we analyze tonight, and hoping for a better day tomorrow.”

But what’s actually possible come qualifying?

“I don’t know, mate,” Hamilton said, sounding exaperated. “For me, I’m just trying to see if I can get in the top 10.”

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