Hamilton Laments ‘Miserable’ Monaco Grand Prix Performance

Lewis Hamilton described the Monaco Grand Prix as “miserable” following a lackluster showing. He voiced his concerns regarding Ferrari’s communication protocols during the race.

Starting from seventh on the grid, Hamilton marginally improved, concluding the race in fifth position. While maintaining a comfortable distance from Isack Hadjar behind him, he never posed a threat to the top four, ultimately trailing winner Lando Norris by a minute.

Hamilton suggested that, considering his three-place grid penalty, securing fifth place was a reasonable outcome.

When asked if he enjoyed the race, Hamilton responded: “No, it was miserable”.

He elaborated, “The races here are generally, unless you’re first and in the lead; even when you’re in the lead, it’s not that fun. Just a nice reward at the end but other than that, anything but first is kind of empty.”

Hamilton confessed he lacked an explanation for the gap separating him from the race leaders.

He stated, “It just happens. For me, I was kind of in the middle of nowhere. Obviously I started with the penalty I had down in seventh, was obviously behind two cars for some time and then managed to clear them, and then I was kind of just in no-man’s-land after that. I think the gap was relatively big, and I wasn’t racing anyone.”

Hamilton admitted to hoping for an unexpected event like a safety car deployment to potentially enhance his position.

“I needed the safety car or something to come into play, but it didn’t happen, so it was just pretty straightforward from there.”

Alluding to previous issues with Ferrari’s communication, Hamilton again seemed perplexed, stating he didn’t fully grasp the phrase, ‘this is our race’.

Hamilton said, “The information wasn’t exactly that clear; I didn’t understand the ‘this is our race’ [comment]. I didn’t know what I was fighting for. Was I fighting for the next spot ahead or … ? But in actual fact, when I look at the data, I wasn’t anywhere near the other guys up front, so I used my tires a lot in that moment, but I was so far away from them.”