Mercedes has still made no progress with its F1 car

The Briton left it until the dying seconds of Q3 to deliver a lap that slotted him in behind McLaren’s Lando Norris, with there still a big gap to the Ferrari and Red Bull cars at the front.

But, although the pace of the Mercedes appears to be better than it was at the Saudi Arabian GP a fortnight ago, Hamilton said that the upswing in form was not the result of any steps forward the team has made.

Asked if the car was better, he said: “No, no. We haven’t made any…