Lewis Hamilton will use a trip to Orlando this week to help him come to terms with his first major shock since joining Mercedes.
Hamilton was left reeling by events in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix in which he finished a wretched 12th and a lap behind winner Fernando Alonso despite starting from second on the grid.
It was a spectacular fall from grace for Hamilton, who had opened his maiden campaign with Mercedes with encouraging performances over the opening four races, chalking up two thirds and two fifths.
That had suggested the 28-year-old and Mercedes were in with a crack of this year’s Formula One titles, only for that theory to be shot to pieces at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.
Arguably the toughest track on the calendar on tyres, Hamilton had no answer to the rapidity at which his rubber fell away.
Asked at one point to protect the left rear, Hamilton’s reply summed up his frustration as he said: “I can’t go any slower.”
There was even embarrassment when he fell behind Pastor Maldonado at one stage to which he said: “And now I’ve been passed by a Williams.”
Worse still is that it appears Mercedes have no solution behind why they can be so lightning quick in qualifying, but have no pace in a race.
“I don’t understand what it is it’s obviously the tyres,” said Hamilton. “It’s something to do with how you prepare the tyres, or use the tyres, or something like that.
“It seemed to work quite well in Bahrain, but didn’t in Barcelona, so it’s something we haven’t quite caught on to just yet.
“But it’s nothing to do with me as a driver. It’s about what we do before we get in the car. In the race there was no grip. I was just sliding around on all fours, just tip-toeing around.
“It didn’t matter whether I went slow or fast, it didn’t do anything different. It was very, very strange. One of the strangest feelings I’ve had for a long time.
“We had a long discussion about it afterwards and we just have to understand what went wrong and how we can improve it for the upcoming races.”
The next outing is under a fortnight’s time in Monaco, where Mercedes are being touted as favourites.