Lewis Hamilton is facing a fresh nightmare after a dismal start to life at Ferrari.
Despite winning the sprint race in China, Hamilton has so far struggled to keep pace with teammate Charles Leclerc.
Currently, the seven-time Formula 1 world champion is in seventh place in the driver's championship with 31 points, 16 behind Leclerc.
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On Sunday, Hamilton endured a tough race at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as he finished more than 30 seconds behind the Monegasque, who finished third.
Now, it has been claimed that a rule change in 2022 might have contributed to Hamilton's struggles.
As reported by Motosport Italia, the 40-year-old is finding it hard to use the engine braking in his Ferrari.
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Ferrari's engine has also been described as 'more brutal' than the Mercedes power unit.
Back in 2022, F1 froze each power unit manufacturer's engines, which means that Ferrari are unable to make changes to help Hamilton.
As a result, the Brit will instead have to change his driving style to suit the engine, which could involve braking earlier to then get back on the power, just like Leclerc seems to do.
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Despite Hamilton's struggles, Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur is firmly backing his man.
As reported by Planet F1, he said: "I will be 2,000 per cent behind him. I will give him support and we will start from tomorrow morning to try to find solutions and reasons and to work on it early in the morning.
"But honestly, I am not too worried. If you have a look on what he did in China or what he did in the race in Bahrain last week, or even on the first part of the session in this weekend, the potential is there for sure."
Vasseur added: "We just have to adjust the balance because we are, collectively, Lewis and us, we are struggling with the balance of his car and [how] he is working the tyres. It’s a kind of negative spot but I think the potential of the car is there and we will try to solve that."
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When asked whether Hamilton's form has dropped massively, Vasseur hit back: "We did five races so far. I know that you want to have the big headlines tomorrow that ‘Fred said this.’
"But this is f***ing bull***t. At the end of the day, we are in competition. You have ups and downs. When we have ups, we are not World Champions. When we have downs, we are not nowhere. It’s just a competition. It’s just that we have to improve step by step and stay calm."
Topics: Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1, Ferrari
Marcus Chan