Lewis Hamilton admits winning F1 world title this season will be so tough

Lewis Hamilton says world title No5 would mean more to him than any of his four preceding Formula One crowns because of the challenge he is up against in 2018.

The defending champion struggled for pace in China, finishing fourth. Although he is second in the title fight, nine points behind Sebastian Vettel, he has yet to win a race from the opening three weekends and his Mercedes appears to lack the pace previously shown in winter testing.

“Who knows what the season holds?” said Hamilton. “If it continues the way it is going, it’s going to be very tough to win.

“But if there is an opportunity and we were to finish on top, it would mean even more because it’s an even tougher season than before.”

Hamilton’s cause was aided in Shanghai by the fact Vettel could only finish eighth, following a collision with Max Verstappen.

But it was another weekend that left the Mercedes hierarchy scratching their heads over where their previous dominance in winter testing and at the opening weekend in Melbourne had disappeared to.

Hamilton described the result of the race, won by Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, as “a disaster” while team principal Toto Wolff admitted: “We need to get our act together.”