MONTREAL, Canada — Lewis Hamilton ranked his performance at the Canadian Grand Prix as one of the worst of his career after finishing fourth on a weekend when he believed Mercedes could have won.

Hamilton started seventh on the grid in Montreal after qualifying over 0.2 seconds off teammate George Russell, who started on pole position.

Hamilton managed to fight his way back to third place in the closing stages before losing the position to Russell two laps from the chequered flag.

“Over the weekend it was just a really poor performance from myself,” Hamilton told Sky Sports. “Yesterday some other things came into it, mostly myself, and then today one of the worst races that I’ve driven, lots of mistakes, but of course if I’d qualified better I would’ve been in a much better position so it is what it is.

“I will go back to the drawing board.

“On a positive note, big, big thank you to everyone back at the factory for progressing this car, because it is becoming a car we can fight with.

“That is a real positive going into the next part of the season, I know we’ll have more upgrades coming along the way so it is going to be a close battle. If I get my head on right, I’ll get better results at some stage.”

Asked if he felt Mercedes could have won in Montreal, Hamilton added: “I think this weekend the car was capable of winning.

“That’s why it is not such a great feeling, but we’ll take the points and keep moving, keep trying.”