It’s the hope that kills you. Only a few days ago Lewis Hamilton was able to muster an expression which had the vaguest semblance of a smile after assessing that his Mercedes was the best it felt for three years.

On Sunday, as his misfiring Merc toiled around Suzuka, that optimism quickly drained from him. That smile (if it was one), you would imagine, was wiped from his face at an even quicker rate.

The 39-year-old was not getting carried away when he made that assessment after practice on Thursday. Hamilton made it abundantly clear that he still knew the limitations of his car. Let’s not forget, two weeks ago Hamilton said this was a car that ‘messes with the mind’.

It’s one that seems to throw up a new challenge around every corner and one that bamboozles even the hi-tech equipment and army of engineers back at their Brackley base. And an old-school, high-octane circuit like this one painfully exposes the shortcomings of a man’s machine.

That’s exactly what it did to Hamilton, who held on to his place inside the top 10, finishing ninth, to tick his points tally for the season over into double figures. ‘I think I picked up a bit of damage at the beginning with Charles (Leclerc), he came around the outside,’ said Hamilton.

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Toto Wolff claimed the season is already over for Mercedes after another difficult outing at the Japan GP

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Lewis Hamilton (above) finished ninth at Suzuka as Mercedes’ struggles continued

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Hamilton previously believed his Mercedes car was the best it had been in years before the GP got underway