LEWIS HAMILTON will spend the next two weeks praying Mercedes discover a way how to save his season.
The Brit saw Sebastian Vettel cruise to victory in the Monaco Grand Prix while he could only muster a seventh-place finish, handing the German a 25-point lead in the F1 title race.
Hamilton was left baffled after his Mercedes car struggled for grip around Monte Carlo on the ultrasoft and supersoft Pirelli tyres.
And he needs Merc to find out why – with the same tyres being used next out in Canada, before Vettel moves too far ahead in the championship.
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Hamilton said: “That was the most unusual the car has felt in all the years I’ve been with the team.
“It was definitely unexpected for the engineers, they tried to correct it and it became even worse.
“We have got to try and at least understand why in the next two weeks to see if we can find a better way to utilise the tyres for the next race.
“One more race like this and we will be much further behind.
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“We have to dissect things and understand why because it’s not like we went there unprepared.
“These next 14 races are going to be very, very difficult. Ferrari have had arguably the strongest car all year, a little bit like our car last year which worked everywhere.
“This car currently is not working at every single place we go to.”
The new tyre compounds for this season have made it a lottery for Merc as the set up on the car of Hamilton’s team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, was identical.
However, the Finn did not suffer the same problems as Hamilton, and Mercedes staff will need to scrutinise the data to find out why.
Meanwhile, Hamilton is hopeful the shocker in Monaco was a one-off and he has reason to be more optimistic about racing in Canada.
The 32-year-old has won there five times before and is staying positive that his Monaco misery was just a minor blip.
He added: “Montreal has been a great hunting ground for me in the past and I plan for it to continue.
“We are going to work very very hard in the next two weeks to make sure the car is in a place to make sure we are ahead of those Ferraris.
“I really really hope we get on top of it as soon as we can — to get on top of the ultrasoft tyres — then that it puts us in a much better position to attack.”
Hamilton quipped that Ferrari had shown their hand after employing Vettel on the better race strategy in Monaco — rather than pole-sitter Kimi Raikkonen.
Hamilton says it points to the fact they have identified the four-time world champion as their No.1 driver.
However, he says he will not be asking Mercedes to do the same for him and make Bottas his rear-gunner.
He said: “I haven’t spoken to the team about team orders and I don’t really plan to.
“Valtteri is doing a great job, I don’t currently feel that we have to have a number one.
“It’s really important now that we work collectively as a team, more now than ever before.”