A swansong with Ferrari would be the perfect finish for Lewis

His car is miles off the pace set by Red Bull and his young team-mate at Mercedes, George Russell, has beaten him twice.

- Neil Squires

TWO races into the Formula One season, Lewis Hamilton must be feeling uneasy. 

It looks like being a long season ahead.

Mercedes ruled the F1 roost and Hamilton ruled Mercedes for so long that it became the default setting for the sport.

At the start of every season, there was an assumption that Hamilton would have the quickest car and that his skills behind the wheel would do the rest.

Every dynasty fades in the end though – even the most powerful – and so it has come to pass at Mercedes.

The Red Bull of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez has left them and the rest for dust. It is so dominant it could conceivably win every race this season. Already it is clear the rest are fighting for the minor places.

When a driver has won the world championship seven times, finding himself in such a position is unedifying.

In the circumstances, it is no surprise that Hamilton has yet to sign the new contract in front of him.

He says he has no intention of leaving Mercedes but if he isn’t privately thinking about a future elsewhere at the end of the season, maybe he should.