"It's like you need a degree to fully understand," says Lewis Hamilton of modes terminology.

In an effort to help fans understand the various modes being introduced this season, the sport came up with a number of catchy names, such as Boost and Overtake, but Lewis Hamilton fears that fans will be left confused such is the complexity of the overhaul.

"None of the fans are going to understand it, I don't think," he told reporters after finishing fourth quickest in this morning's session.

"It's so complex," he continued. "It's ridiculously complex.

"I sat in a meeting the other day and they're taking us through it," said the seven-time world champion. "It's like you need a degree to fully understand it all."

Asked if winning races will now be about who best manages their battery, he laughed: "I have no clue. I have no idea what's going to happen. I can't even answer that question. Energy management is going to be key. Which team is most on top of deployment and which driver is on top of that most.

"In terms of managing it, it's pretty straightforward, I would say," he added. "Maybe in race trim, it's going to be different. We will see. But then there also is a system that can automatically, you know, once you finish a lap, it learns the way that you're driving. But say, for example, you lock up and go wide, you cover more distance, it affects that algorithm. So we're just trying to get on top of it and understand it. But everyone's in the same boat."

The Briton also fears that an impending change of race engineer will work against him. Riccardo Adami, with whom he enjoyed a fractious relationship last year has been moved elsewhere, and for the time being Carlo Santi, who previously engineered for Kimi Raikkonen, will fill the role, however, this is only a temporary appointment.

"With Riccardo, it's obviously a very difficult decision to make," said Hamilton. "I'm really, really grateful for all the effort he put in last year and his patience. It was a difficult year for us all.

"It's actually quite a difficult period because it's not long-term," he added, "the solution that I currently have is only going to be a few races. And so early on into the season, it's going to be switching up again and I'll have to learn to work with someone new. So that's detrimental to me, too.

"This is a season where you want to arrive with people that have done multiple seasons," he explained, "that have been through thick and thin and calm. But it is the situation that I'm faced with and I'll try and do the best I can. The team is trying to do the best they can to help make it as seamless as possible."

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