Hamilton finished a lowly 13th in a wet-dry Emilia Romagna Grand Prix during a miserable afternoon that was compounded when he was lapped by raceꦯ-winner Max Verstappen. 

It marked the latest dire performance from Hamilton amid M♚ercedes’ strug𓆏gles to fix its troubled W13 challenger. 

• Verstappen laps Hamilton to win at Imola amid Ferrari disaster
• Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Full Race Results from Round 4
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After the race, Mercedes team principal Wolff came on 𒈔the radio to apologise to the seven-time world champion for failing to provide him with a competitive car. 

“Hi Lewis, sorry for what you have needed to drive today,” Wolff said. “I kno𒀰w this is undꦅriveable and not what we deserve to score as a result. 

“W🍷e move from there, but this⛦ was a terrible race."

A despondent Hamilton replied: “Yeah, no worries, Toto. ౠJust ke🐬ep on working hard.”

Wolff responded: “Yꦦeah, we will come out of this.”

Speaking to Sky, Wolff admitted that Mercedes have let Hamilton 𝐆down꧂. 

“We saw, with George, how the car can drive in free air,” he added. “But we are no🎃t good enough for a world champion. Not 💝worthy. 

“We need to fix the car. I saꦿid sorry for the car that he needs to drive. We are going to look at things for Miami - we can make a step in the understanding of the car.” 

The result means Hamilton has fallen to seventh in the championship standings, 58 points beh🌃ind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. 

“A weekend to forget,” Hamilton conceded. “I am out of the championship, for sure. There is no question about that. But I’ll keep working hard to put it back togetꩲher so𝄹mehow.” 

Russell backs Hamilton to recover 

In contrast to Hamilton’s struggles, George Russell h🦄eld off the late-charging Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottܫas in the closing stages to seal an impressive fourth place. 

The Briton capitalised on the opening-lap chꦫaos to move himself up to sixth from 11th on the gr♐id, before passing Haas driver Kevin Magnussen and inheriting a further position when Leclerc spun out of third late on. 

Russell is now 21 points ahead of Hamilton in the championship after the open🌃ing four rounds but backed his teammate to bounce back s✱trongly from his worst-ever start to an F1 season. 

“The car is out of the window and it is so difficult to be consistent🔥,” Russell said. “Lewis has the pace, he is incredibly fast. 

“It is tricky for us to get it done. The tyres haven’t been💫 in the right window. The car isn’t its true ღself. 

“Lewis has been massively fast, there was a blip this weekend, but he will come back stronger. The way he motivates🎃 the team is inspiring. He wants more.”