Lewis Hamilton may have started the season as the overwhelming favourite to clinch a fifth world title, but the Mercedes star now finds himself trailing by nine points in the championship after three races and yet to taste victory in 2018.
Sebastian Vettel’s victories in Australia and Bahrain proved the Ferrari has pace this year and can be a serious threat to Mercedes dominance in the constructors’ championship.
For all of Hamilton’s class behind the wheel, he was lucky to clinch a podium in Bahrain after starting from ninth and surviving a collision with Max Verstappen on the first lap.
Vettel’s victory in that race was up there with his very best – a masterclass under deteriorating soft tyres for 39 laps to hold off Valtteri Bottas on the final frenetic laps to seal a 49th victory of his career.
And for those of us who believed that the title race would be one-sided in terms of the dominance from Hamilton, we have seen enough over the first three races to know this year is set up to be a thriller
Winless since the US Grand Prix last October, the 33-year-old now finds himself behind Vettel in the drivers’ championship and struggling for pace and confidence.
But as early in the season as it may be, Hamilton and his Mercedes team will be ruing missed opportunities, with three chances slipped in as many races.
In Australia, Mercedes got their figures wrong and miscalculated the gap between Hamilton and Vettel during the virtual safety car – and the German took the lead after a slow Mercedes pitstop with 38 laps remaining to win.
A hydraulic leakage in his gearbox in Melbourne, forced a change and a five-place grid penalty in Bahrain.
Hoping to get back to winning ways in the Gulf, Mercedes lacked pace throughout practice and qualifying – and Hamilton appeared to struggle and ended up qualifying fourth, behind Bottas in third.
Starting from ninth after the grid penalty, he survived a clash with Verstappen after making up three places, passing Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg in mesmerising fashion.
This set him up for a run to fourth, but with Kimi Raikkonen retiring midway through the race, he went on to secure third in a less than smooth performance.
In China, Hamilton dominated the practice sessions but was then out-qualified by Bottas for a second successive weekend and admitted after the race in Shanghai that he would need to do a bit of soul-searching to figure out what is wrong.
Another strategy error during the virtual safety car cost Hamilton a place on the podium, with both Mercedes and Ferrari opting not to pit after Pierre Gasly’s crash with 25 laps to go.
Red Bull capitalised on the opportunity and sent both drivers into the pits and they emerged on a new rubber with pace, hunting down the leading pack and Daniel Ricciardo went on to take victory.
Hamilton sealed fourth, with Bottas in second.
It is too early to be reading into this lack of quality form, especially with another 18 races left in the season, but Hamilton appears to be lacking in belief, pace and that winners touch that we are normally so used to seeing.
But, there is no doubt he will come storming back.
The Stevenage native is not a four-time world champion for nothing, and of course, like any job or sport, there is bound to be bad days along the journey.
It is impossible for anyone to perform at a consistently high level across the entire season, and with the Ferraris gaining solid ground, this season is set up to be a cliffhanger as Hamilton and Vettel go in search of that illustrious fifth world title.
Advantage may be in the German’s favour at this point, but expect Hamilton to fight back to his best form in Baku.
