Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes working on F1 race communication

Hamilton lost the Australian Grand Prix due to a miscalculation on how much of a gap he needed to have to Sebastian Vettel, and in Bahrain he felt he was in "no man's land" as he tried to comprehend what was happening in the race, and how hard he had to push at a given time.

Matters were complicated by Mercedes assuming that Vettel would stop a second time before coming to realise that he might not, and also by problems with Hamilton's radio, which meant his team could not always hear what he was saying.

"It was just difficult to know how hard to lean on the tyres in the early phases," the world champion explained.

"At one point I understood that the [Ferrari] guys were doing two stops, and there's no way they're going to get to the end on the one stop.

"And I've got to save tyres so that when we're at the end and [Vettel] catches me I can still fight.

"Or I've got to catch him while the tyres are still good and close the gap to the best of my ability, because they're doing a one stop.

"I didn't have that information, so there was lots of driving around in no man's land for a while. But that's just something we need to work on.

"The radio wasn't working properly, and in the heat of the moment it's difficult to know what information you need to give.

"They couldn't hear me. I could hear them, but they were always coming back saying 'I can't hear you'."

Hamilton said the team would be reviewing his communications with engineer Peter Bonnington, while stressing how busy races can be for the guys in the hot seats on the pit wall.

"We're going to sit down and discuss the last two races," he said.

"Different drivers like different feedback. I don't have a ton. There are times you need more.

"We're going to sit down and discuss it and try to work on the points and improve, and I have no doubt we will.

"I don't want them to talk to me all the time when they don't need to. It's just working out a rapport that works best.

Ferrari pressure

Hamilton admitted that the battle with Ferrari is so close this season that there is no margin for error.

"It's very marginal now, so it really highlights or magnifies the importance of communications and these small little things that can make a difference," he said.

"If you look at the last race [in Australia], there were things we could have done to make sure we came out ahead.

"And then I'm not sure how it was for Valtteri [in Bahrain], I think it was not ideal for him either.

"These races we can't afford to be losing to Ferrari, so we need to get ourselves in a place where we're not only strong in our operations in the car, but also in the race.

"Strategy was great today, but to make the strategy work we need to make sure that we're all on the same understanding of what we've got to do."