“Punch drunk” after a difficult Spanish GP, David Coulthard says Lewis Hamilton can draw some positives as he matched Charles Leclerc in the middle stint.

Hamilton has struggled to get up to speed at Ferrari since joining the team in the off-season, with the Briton losing to Leclerc in their head-to-head battles.

Lewis Hamilton has yet to record a Grand Prix podium for Ferrari

Although he put his SF-25 on pole and won the Sprint in China, that’s been the sum of his season’s highlights.

Playing out in his communications with his race engineer Riccardo Adami, Hamilton’s frustrations have made headlines and it was more of the same at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Although he outqualified Leclerc for a Grand Prix for only the second time this season and declared a podium finish was his goal, it came to nought as he struggled for pace in the opening stint.

Ferrari ordered him to move for Leclerc, the Monegasque driver scampering off into the distance to take the chequered flag in third place while Hamilton fell to sixth. He was overtaken by the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg in the closing laps.

“Unbelievable, guys,” Hamilton lamented to Adami on his in-lap. “There’s something wrong with this car, mate. It’s the worst it’s ever been.”

Analysis: Lewis Hamilton’s mega-millions move to Ferrari

👉 10 biggest sports deals in history: Where does Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari salary rank?

👉 Lewis Hamilton net worth: Where does he rank against football icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?

But speaking with Sky F1 after the race, the Briton pointed the finger at himself, not the car.

“It was just not a great day,” he said. “Strategy was good, team did a great job. What do you want me to say?

“I just had a really bad day and I’ve got nothing to say. It was a difficult day. There’s nothing else to add to it, it was terrible.”

Put to him that Ferrari could find answers to his Spanish Grand Prix woes, he added: “I’m sure they won’t. It’s probably just me.”

Coulthard said the seven-time World Champion sounded “punch drunk” amidst his Ferrari struggles.

However, the former F1 driver reckons all is not lost as he did find a few positives in Hamilton’s Spanish Grand Prix performance.

“I think that, whether Lewis likes it or not, the team, in the situation they are right now, if the shoe was on the other foot, I think they’ve got to release the faster car and then sort it out later in the Grand Prix,” Coulthard said of Ferrari’s decision to team orders to Channel 4.

“In this case, I think Lewis came into the race, I think he was not delivering the pace at the beginning.

“I think there was an area in the middle of the Grand Prix where he was actually matching Charles and looking like he was finding some comfort there.

“So, reasons to be positive for Lewis, but right now, I think he’s a little bit punch drunk with the difficulties of getting up to speed with Ferrari.”

Despite Hamilton’s claim that he was “probably” to blame for his pace in Spain, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur revealed there was an issue with the car that reared its head towards the latter stint.

He, however, did not reveal what exactly the issue was.

“You are experienced enough to draw a conclusion after the first words of the driver,” he said.

“If you want to create a polemic, you can. But it’s not the case. I think he did 70 per cent of the race in front of Russell. I’m not sure that Russell said that the race was a disaster.

“But then we had an issue on the car the last stint, before the Safety Car. The result is not good, but he did 45 laps in front of Russell.”

Hamilton remained P6 in the Drivers’ Championship but now trails Leclerc by 23 points. He is 115 down on championship leader Oscar Piastri.

Read next: ‘Just so down’ – Lewis Hamilton’s emotional apology after tense interview