Lewis Hamilton thinks Mercedes will need to play "the long game" if they are to have any chance of beating Max Verstappen and Red Bull at the British Grand Prix.
The first-ever Formula One sprint race took place on Saturday, with Verstappen passing Hamilton – who had qualified fastest in a new Friday session - on the first lap and going on to win.
That means Verstappen is awarded pole position and three championship points with Hamilton and third-placed Valtteri Bottas having to settle for two and one respectively.
Hamilton is grateful to have the chance to bounce back in the main race on Sunday but is under no illusions over the size of the task facing him on home soil as Verstappen seeks a fourth consecutive F1 victory.
"Sunday is going to be tough," Hamilton, who is seeking a record eighth win at Silverstone, told reporters after the 17-lap sprint.
"He [Verstappen] had a lot of pace in him and I don't think he was particularly having to push too hard, and we were flat-out.
"If I can try somehow to keep up with them through the stints, maybe we can apply pressure through strategy – but we're not going to be overtaking them on the track: they're just too fast.
"So, we play the long game hopefully."
In the sprint race it was a slow start that cost Hamilton, who now trails Verstappen by 33 points.
The seven-time world champion added: "I gave it everything, it's just not good when you lose from P1. We'll try to turn the negative into a positive.
"Every point counts, but I'm grateful to have finished. We will fight again, but they're just so strong, in the race he was pulling away. There was nothing I could do to hold onto him.
"We really have to try and be in front somehow. I wish we could re-do the start again, but luckily we have it again on Sunday."
Verstappen believes Mercedes are competitive rivals for the race and the Dutchman will be outnumbered given Sergio Perez, who spun off and later retired in the sprint, will start at the back of the grid.
"What we learned on Saturday is that it's very close again," said the championship leader.
"It's a bit different. It seems like we are quick through corners, they are quick on the straight this weekend.
"The pace was alright but I still expect with a pit-stop coming into play – or two pit stops, who knows – it’s again going to be a good fight."
Hamilton was positive about the trial changes made to the format this weekend, but thinks everything, including qualifying, should be packed in to Saturday and Sunday if a sprint becomes a permanent feature.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he added: "We should do more like that [the sprint], maybe a different version of it, in future because this makes the weekend more enjoyable I think.
"They did a great job and I think the fans enjoyed it, from what we saw on the parade laps.
"I think this weekend's been awesome in terms of Friday, it was such a fun day to have qualifying - way more enjoyable [than practice would have been].
"It's always nice doing more races that’s for sure, but it is almost like they should almost do the sprint race on the Sunday and then the race because there could be a lot of sitting around for people on Sunday.
"It's been great to try something new - we should just do a long Saturday and long Sunday. P1, P2, qualifying on Saturday and then a sprint race and a race on Sunday. Pack it all in!
"That means we have one whole day less, 23 days actually less of driving these cars around the track and obviously that would be better in terms of going more green."
George Russell finished the sprint in ninth but has been handed a three-place grid penalty for an incident with Carlos Sainz.
He therefore drops to 12th, with Esteban Ocon, Sainz and Pierre Gasly the beneficiaries.
Mercedes boss Wolff slams Horner amid Verstappen-Russell row
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff hit out at Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner amid the ongoing row between four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen and George Russell.
The tension between the pair, which began during qualifying at last weekend's Qatar Grand Prix, escalated quickly after both drivers made further comments ahead of the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Reacting to the Dutch driver's comments that he had "lost all respect" for Russell for his role in demoting him from pole position, the Mercedes driver said Verstappen had threatened to crash into him on purpose.
And Mercedes boss Wolff also weighed in on the situation by criticising Horner, who called Russell "hysterical" in Qatar, for falling short of his role.
"I think as a team principal, it's important to be a sparring partner for your drivers, and that means explaining that things can be more nuanced," Wolff said.
"Statements that are absolutistic, thinking that everything is 100% right or 100% wrong, is just something you need to explain. Things are more nuanced, depending on your perception and your perspective.
"You need to allow for something to be 51-49, you need to allow it to be 70-30 - so there is always another side.
"Maybe, when you look at it that way, and you explain it to your drivers and your team, you come to the conclusion that there is truth on both sides. If you don't do that, you're falling short of your role."
Verstappen had qualified fastest in Qatar, but was later demoted to a second-placed start after a rare grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly and impeding Russell in qualifying, after both drivers had a hearing with the stewards.
"Why does he feel entitled to comment about my driver?" Wolff added. "How does that come? That even thinking about it, I just had 90 seconds to think about it. Yapping little terrier. Always something to say.
"There is a thing between drivers, and this is George and Max, and I don't want to get involved in that. But if the other team principal calls George 'hysterical', this is where he crosses a line for me.
"His forte, for sure, is not intellectual psychoanalysis, but that's quite a word. How dare you comment on the state of mind of my driver?!"
Russell hits back at 'bully' Verstappen as Qatar row escalates
George Russell said "someone needs to stand up a bully like this" as his ugly row with Max Verstappen from the Qatar Grand Prix escalated.
Red Bull driver Verstappen qualified fastest in Qatar but was later demoted a spot after being given a rare grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly and impeding Mercedes' Russell in qualifying.
Four-time world champion Verstappen later said he had "lost all respect" for the British driver, accusing Russell of essentially setting out to earn him a demotion in the stewards room.
Russell has now reacted to the explosive comments in an interview with Sky Sports ahead of the season-ending Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi and accused the Dutchman of threatening to intentionally crash into him in an X-rated retort.
"What he was doing was pretty clear. He was going too slow. He was on the racing line, and we all had the rules to follow, and he didn't follow it," Russel began.
"I find his comments pretty ironic when he comes out and says 'I'm going to purposely crash into you, I'm going to put you on your f****** head in the wall'.
"For me, that is unacceptable, and he's gone beyond the line here, and I'm not going to accept it.
"So somebody's got to stand up to a guy like this before it gets out of control."
Verstappen is reported to have denied the allegation to the Dutch media.
Russell added when asked what further steps he would want to take: "I don't want to go to the stewards' office.
"I had no intention of bringing this up. He said this to me on Saturday night and I woke up on Sunday morning feeling fine. But to come out of those press interviews saying that I'm two-faced, I'm the f-word, and this and that, he's taking this personal.
"What happens on track is professional, what happens in the stewards' is professional, and like Carlos [Sainz] said to him on Sunday morning, 'you would have done the exact same thing'.
"On Sunday in the race he lifted for a yellow, Lando [Norris, who received a penalty which took him out of the fight for the race victory] doesn't lift for a yellow, and he says to the team 'check what Lando does'.
"That's not personal against Lando, that is just racing. I've known Max for 12 years. I respected him all this time, but now I have lost respect for him. We are all fighting on track, and it's never personal," he added.
"Now he's made it personal and someone needs to stand up to a bully like this - and so far people are letting him get away with murder."
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Hamilton underestimated 'difficulties' of final Mercedes season
Lewis Hamilton says he "massively underestimated" what his final year at Mercedes would be like in the wake of announcing that he was joining Ferrari for 2025.
Hamilton will race for the Silver Arrows for the final time at this weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, ending a record-breaking 12-year stint with the team.
During his time with Mercedes, the Briton has won six of his seven drivers' championships, while also achieving Formula One records for the most wins (105), most pole positions (104), podium finishes (202) and points scored (4,850.50).
But Hamilton has endured a difficult season in 2024, with his current points tally on course to be his worst in F1, despite winning twice in the campaign.
He emerged victorious for a record ninth time at the British Grand Prix in July, before emerging victorious at the Belgian Grand Prix two races later.
Hamilton opened up on the strains and emotions of the past 11 months since his Ferrari switch was made public.
"The first meeting with Toto [Wolff] at the beginning of the year was awkward, of course, so it was awkward from the get-go," said Hamilton.
"The day after, when I took some of the team paintballing, and they had just found out. So there have been loads of moments throughout the year.
"I got shot at a lot by people, loads of bruises. People went in on me that day. I anticipated it would be difficult, but massively underestimated how difficult it would be.
"It was straining on the relationship very early on, it took time for people to get past it.
"And then just from my own self, it's been a very emotional year for me, and I think I've not been at my best in handling and dealing with those emotions.
"So many of you have been here my whole career, so some of you, I think you've all seen the worst in me, and the best of me.
"And I'm not going to apologise for it either, because I'm only human and I don't always get it right.
"And I would definitely say this year has been one of the worst in terms of handling that from my side, which I will work on trying to be better at."
Hamilton's frustrations have been further compounded by the improvements made by team-mate George Russell, who has impressed in recent weeks.
Russell and Hamilton have taken part in 67 races as Mercedes team-mates. Russell has beaten Hamilton in 38 qualifying sessions and finished ahead in half of the races (34).
Of Hamilton's six team-mates throughout his career, only Fernando Alonso has beaten him more times in races.
Hamilton, though, says the highs of their towering achievements together and the strength of their relationships will stand the test of time.
"I hope the good and the highs far outweigh the negatives in how I've handled it, or behaved," he added.
"And as I said, just remember the good times. I've built some incredible relationships.
"If you imagine when you're going through a season together with so many people, not only on those race weekends are you riding the highs and lows together.
"But in their personal lives, through marriages, through divorces, through loss of family members, through cancer, through all sorts - you're going through these journeys with these people.
"So, it's a really beautiful journey you go on together, and being there for so long, the emotions run so deep."
DRIVERS TO WATCH
Max Verstappen - Red Bull
Verstappen will be hoping to finish his season on a high around a track where he won his first world championship three years ago.
The Dutchman has won each of the last four races in Abu Dhabi. Only Ayrton Senna in Monaco (1989 to 1993) and Hamilton in Spain (from 2017 to 2021) have won five consecutive editions of the same race.
He has also taken pole position in each of the last four Abu Dhabi Grands Prix. Should he do so again, it will be the fifth time a driver has taken five consecutive pole positions in the same grand prix in Formula One history, after Senna (seven in San Marino, 1985 to 1991), Hamilton (six in Australia, 2014 to 2019) and Michael Schumacher (twice - five in Spain from 2000 to 2004 and five in Japan from 1998 to 2002).
A win for Verstappen will also see him claim his 10th of the year. It could be the 14th time a driver has won at least 10 races in a single F1 season, and the Dutchman's fourth, with the previous three coming in the last three editions of the competition.
Charles Leclerc - Ferrari
It will be the first time since 2009 that neither Mercedes nor Red Bull have won the constructors' championship in F1, with Ferrari doing battle with McLaren to see who comes out on top.
And Leclerc will want to improve on his seventh-place finish in Abu Dhabi last year, with the possibility of overtaking Lando Norris in the drivers' standings in the final race.
He has managed to finish on the podium 12 times in 2024. It is the Monegasque's best year on the podium in F1, surpassing the 11 in 2022, while also scoring more points this season (341) than in any other since his arrival in the competition in 2018.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 429 (C)
2. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 349
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 341
4. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 291
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – 272
Constructors
1. McLaren – 640
2. Ferrari – 619
3. Red Bull – 581
4. Mercedes – 446
5. Aston Martin – 92
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