Toto Wolff has acknowledged Mercedes consigned Lewis Hamilton to a "race of misery" in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The team principal of the Brackley-based outfit explained his outfit knew how difficult the 51-lap race would be for his outgoing driver after a power unit change saw him start from the pit lane.
The 39-year-old salvaged two points from his afternoon, finishing in ninth, but would have been outside the top 10 had it not been for Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz's penultimate-lap shunt.
Further adding to the miserable grand prix, the seven-time drivers' champion endured a balance issue.
It is something that would have been exacerbated by the problems customary to racing through the pack in Baku, which his boss outlined post-race.
"We decided to do the engine change here [in Azerbaijan]," Wolff told media including RacingNews365.
"We knew that it's going to be a race of misery, because it's so difficult to overtake in Baku, and that's what it was.
"The moment you come closer, you overheat the tyres, and then you go backwards, and I think this is what happened to him. But lots to learn."
