It was only a partial smile from Lewis Hamilton after qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix. Following a highly encouraging Friday in which he topped the timesheets, the Ferrari driver had to settle for third place on the grid with the leading SF-26. “It’s the maximum I could do,” Hamilton admitted. “The team deserved a good result and I gave everything I had for them. I’m satisfied, but not completely.”
The seven-time Formula 1 World Champion will therefore start Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix from the second row, behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen, following a qualifying session that left mixed feelings inside the Ferrari garage.
Analyzing his performance, Lewis Hamilton explained that the SF-26 did not provide the same positive sensations it had delivered during the previous day’s running: “I felt great in the car. Yesterday we made some progress and then, when we arrived today, we took a small step backwards. We lost something, especially in Turn 9.”
According to the British driver, the main issue was the balance of the car, which changed unexpectedly compared to the setup and feeling he had during practice.
“I’m not entirely sure what exactly went wrong. We’ll continue to analyze the situation thoroughly. I think in the end we lost the opportunity to fight at the front because we lost the balance we had at the end of the previous sessions. It was a surprise and I had to make significant changes during the session. In the end, I extracted everything I could from the balance I had. The car was on the limit and so was I.”
Hamilton explains the drop in performance from Friday: “We didn’t go in the wrong direction”
Despite the step backwards compared to Friday, Lewis Hamilton does not believe Ferrari made major mistakes from a setup perspective.
“I don’t think we went in the wrong direction with the setup. We’re trying small changes and you never know exactly when you’ll find the right one. We didn’t want to transform the car completely, but for some reason I didn’t have some of the feelings I had during practice.”
Lewis Hamilton remains convinced that Ferrari’s pace from Friday suggested the team could have been closer to the front: “I think with the pace we had yesterday we could have been closer. I know the guys are working incredibly hard and we’ll keep pushing. I don’t know if we’ll have an opportunity tomorrow, but we’ll do our very best.”
Expanding further on the balance issue, Lewis Hamilton explained that he was forced to progressively adjust the car throughout qualifying in an attempt to recover confidence.
“When we arrived on Friday, the car’s behavior was pretty good and from that moment I felt really comfortable. Then I had to take quite a lot of front load out of the car. On the final Q3 attempt the car became more predictable, but I needed that balance from the start of Q1 in order to build confidence. It was all about confidence. I had completely lost it at the beginning of the session and then I tried to rebuild it wherever I could.”
The British driver believes that, despite the disappointment, there are still several positive signs to take away from the Monaco weekend.
“I’m relatively happy. I felt that the team deserved this result and I feel I’m in a very good place with the car and with the team. You can see that I still have good pace. The speed is there and I’m really happy about that. We keep working together and growing together.”
A difficult race ahead: “Monaco has become a procession”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s race, Lewis Hamilton is not expecting miracles. While he hopes for a strong start, he fully recognizes the challenges of overtaking around the narrow streets of Monte Carlo.
“I don’t think there’s much more I can personally do. Hopefully we can make a really good start and maybe put some pressure on the guys ahead.”
The Ferrari driver then offered a candid assessment of modern Monaco Grands Prix and the difficulty drivers face when trying to create overtaking opportunities.
“It’s a shame because this race has become a procession. The cars simply follow each other around. Everything overheats, from the brakes to the tyres. Given the nature of the circuit, it’s very difficult to make a difference. I hope that in the future a smart solution can be found to make this race even more enjoyable from the drivers’ point of view.”
For now, Lewis Hamilton’s focus remains on maximizing the opportunities available from third place on the grid. While Ferrari may have lost some of the balance that made the SF-26 so competitive on Friday, the British driver still believes the team has the pace to fight and will be looking to capitalize on any opportunity that presents itself during Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix.
Leave a Reply