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The 2022 Formula One season is already shaping up to be a memorable one, with Ferrari roaring back into title contention thanks to a superb start by Charles Leclerc.

For Mercedes, and especially Lewis Hamilton, it’s been a rather inauspicious start with the seven-time world champion clearly unimpressed by the car at his disposal.

The third race of the season in Melbourne, Australia actually went well for Mercedes considering the car issues experienced by Hamilton and George Russell.

Hamilton came fourth and Russell third, but there was some criticism levelled at the former for a radio message that appears to have been broadcast out of context.

More via ESPN:

In the closing stages of the Melbourne race, as he was running just over a second behind the other Mercedes, a curious radio message was broadcast from Hamilton on the TV coverage.

Hamilton, who finished fourth, said: “You guys have really put me in a difficult position.”

F1 driver radio messages are often broadcast out of sync with when they happened and sometimes lack the context of the rest of the conversation. This one was not accompanied by any of the preceding conversations Hamilton had with the Mercedes pit wall.

After the race, Hamilton stressed that he was speaking in response to being told he needed to drop back and run in clear air due to his engine overheating.

When a reporter pressed for clarification that the comment wasn’t to do with being behind Russell, Hamilton replied simply, “Because the car was overheating.”

He was effusive in his praise for the job Russell did in landing a spot on the podium, reports Sky Sports:

“It’s incredible. He’s done an amazing job today, he had great pace. He’s been so solid these first three races and he’s working and really grafting away. He’s doing an amazing job.

“I saw a bit of him racing Perez and I wish I could have been in it, but we’ll take these points and keep pushing.”

Admitting that he had “let the team down” in Saudi Arabia, Hamilton said he was happy with his efforts in securing fourth place and stressed that with 20 races still to come, the door was not shut on a title charge.

I’m already looking forward to the next season of Drive to Survive.

[sources:espn&skysports]