'Fed up' Hamilton not at his best - Ecclestone

Lewis Hamilton appears "fed up" with Formula 1 and is no longer performing at his championship-winning best, according to the sport's former chief Bernie Ecclestone. Hamilton and his world champion team have not won any of the opening three races of 2018 - the Silver Arrows' worst drought since 2013.

After having what looked a certain victory pinched by Sebastian Vettel in Australia, Hamilton was off-colour in Bahrain and China, with team-mate Valtteri Bottas outperforming him each time.

Hamilton is yet to sign an extension to his Mercedes deal which expires at the end of the year, although the four-time world champion insisted this week that he remains committed to doing so.

And, with the 33-year-old saying he is unsure how many years he has left in the sport, Ecclestone too believes time could soon be up on Hamilton's F1 career.

"He doesn't seem to be the Lewis that he was before," Ecclestone told Sky Sports News.

"I don't know whether it's me - but when you talk to him and see him act the way he acts generally, he's not the racer he was.

"He's still very quick, still super talented, still a super nice guy.

"But maybe he just getting a little bit tired of travelling and he's fed up with things."

Like many pre-season predictions, Ecclestone had assumed that Mercedes' dominance of the hybrid era would continue into 2018.

However, with Vettel stealing an early march on his rivals, the 87-year-old would be happy to see the German beat Hamilton to a fifth world title.

"I thought Lewis would win every race, so I've been proved wrong," Ecclestone said.

"It would be nice to see Sebastian win because he's a mate of mine and I support him always. So I hope he can get the job done."