Lewis Hamilton appeared to ignore ‘horror’ Toto Wolff message at the end of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton endured perhaps his most painful race of the season so far at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Briton had to settle for ninth after a pit-lane start.

Hamilton had originally qualified seventh but Mercedes opted to change his power unit, incurring a penalty that dropped him to the foot of the field. He struggled to fight his way back through the pack.

The seven-time world champion complained over the radio about the manner in which he had to drive his W15. He was on course for 11th, only to grab a couple of points after the collision between Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez on the penultimate lap.

Teammate George Russell scored a podium, while Hamilton also finished behind the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso and the Williams duo of Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto. Ninth matches his poorest result of the season (Saudi Arabia, Japan, China).

Hamilton won two of the final three races before the summer break but has lost any semblance of momentum since. He could only manage eighth in the Netherlands after a Q2 exit, and while fifth was a solid effort in Italy, there was more frustration in Baku.

Mercedes appeared to have made a breakthrough with their car, but they’ve struggled to extract consistent performance from it in the last three rounds. On current form, it looks unlikely that Hamilton will add one final race win before he joins Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton didn’t respond to Toto Wolff’s ‘horror race’ admission after Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff routinely speaks to both of his drivers over the radio after the race. In Baku, he expressed his sympathy for Hamilton but urged him to ‘look forward’ ahead of the second leg of the back-to-back in Singapore.

Wolff said: “Lewis, good to make it to the end. It was a horror race, I can so relate to it. Let’s move forward, look forward.”

There was silence from the 39-year-old as he appeared to ignore his boss. He didn’t reflect on the race with engineer Peter Bonnington either, instead simply reporting that Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg had overtaken under virtual safety car conditions after the chequered flag.

The 105-time race-winner has struggled to put together clean weekends all season. Hamilton has now lost the qualifying battle against Russell, having wrestled with car balance and tyre temperature issues for much of the campaign.

Lewis Hamilton sends ‘amazing’ message to Oliver Bearman and Franco Colapinto

Hamilton spent much of Sunday’s race battling Oliver Bearman, his 19-year-old compatriot who stood in for the banned Kevin Magnussen at Haas. Like Colapinto, who’s just replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams, Bearman was competing in only his second race.

The two least experienced drivers on the grid finished either side of the most decorated driver in F1 history. Writing on Instagram, Hamilton sent a message to Bearman and Colapinto.

He congratulated them on scoring points and said it was ‘amazing’ to see a new generation of talent coming through. Mercedes have signed 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli, Bearman’s F2 teammate, as his successor.

Hamilton retains sixth place in the championship ahead of this weekend’s race at Marina Bay. Russell has narrowed the gap to 23 points, with Sainz 18 up the road.