Hamilton: Mercedes “miles away” after damage cost him P2 at F1 Austrian GP

Hamilton had been on course to finish second comfortably at the Red Bull Ring, running four seconds ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.

The seven-time champion’s pace started to drop midway through and he was quickly reeled in by Bottas.

On Lap 52, Bottas was told Hamilton would let him through for position.

A lap later, Hamilton surrendered the position to Norris, before making a second pit stop as he struggled with the rear of his car.

Reflecting on his race, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: “I already said before the race that it will be very hard to beat Max, of course. Frustrating to lose so much downforce on the rear of the car and not be able to hold onto second place. A lot of points lost today.

“I wasn’t going over the kerbs anymore than anyone else so I have no idea where it happened. There was a lot of damage.”

Hamilton trails Max Verstappen 32 points in the drivers’ championship following the Dutchman’s dominant victory in Austria.

With the British Grand Prix next up, Hamilton conceded that Mercedes has “a lot of work to do.”

“We are miles away from them,” Hamilton added. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We need all hands on deck, which I already know they are and they’ve brought a lot of upgrades clearly over these past few races and we’ve not brought any.

“We’ve got to bring some, find as much performance as possible otherwise this will be the result most often.”

Mercedes confirmed on Twitter that Hamilton's pace suffered after suffering kerb damage from Turn 10.