Lewis Hamilton eagerly waiting for upgrades from Mercedes to close the gap with Red Bull 

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has mentioned that he is counting down the days when the team can bring in upgrades and start to challenge Red Bull for wins and podiums.

The seven-time world champion finished P6 at the F1 Azerbaijan GP and called it "the worst race of the season" for him. After getting passed by Fernando Alonso, he could not make a dent in the race despite challenging Carlos Sainz for P5 throughout.

Mercedes are planning to bring the upgrades to Imola in a couple of weeks' time in their bid to become more competitive.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Lewis Hamilton said:

"We knew already from early on that we would have quite a few races until this upgrade. It's just been counting the days and weeks down. We don't currently quite know how good the upgrade will be, we know it will be the start of something new for us.

"Miami should hopefully be better pace-wise than here - last year we were bouncing there a lot so I think we're in a much better place with our car this year. I hope we're a little bit closer to the guys there, we might not be as close to the Red Bulls because they're rapid but if we can fight the Astons that would be amazing."

"I think we did [get the most out of the car]" - Lewis Hamilton

While analyzing his race, Lewis Hamilton stated that he got everything out of the car and nothing was left behind in terms of performance.

He said:

"I think we did [get the most out of the car]. There was great prep before coming here with a couple of days in the factory, plenty of sim running and I'm very proud of the team. "The mentality of the team is great, there is such a winning mindset and everyone is focused on progressing and getting to where we know we can get to.

"I don't think there are any mistakes or any failure, I think this is just the build of getting to where we need to be. Everyone is staying positive in the garage, everyone is just doing their jobs to the best of their ability and that is all we can ask for right now until we get those upgrades which will hopefully put us much more in the fight."

It would be interesting to see if Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton are competitive in Miami ahead of their first race running upgrades in Imola.