Lewis Hamilton, anonymous 5th place in Monaco
While Charles Leclerc at least tried to show himself in Lando Norris’s mirrors, especially with Max Verstappen leading, the other Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton ran a race of its own. The seven-time world champion was initially stuck behind Isack Hadjar and Fernando Alonso, but after their pit stops, he was able to push and complete an overcut to take fifth place.
However, the Briton’s race ended there, with neither the pace to catch the top four nor the risk of losing fifth. And Hamilton himself admitted he understood little of what happened over the 78 laps today.
Lewis Hamilton’s words
“I can’t explain the gap (he finished 51 seconds behind Norris). It’s a bit crazy to see it, but it just happens. As far as I’m concerned, I found myself in no man’s land. I started with a penalty, stayed behind two cars for a while, then managed to get past them. After that, I was just in the middle of nowhere. I think the gap was quite large and I wasn’t racing anyone. I needed a Safety Car or something like that, but it never came.” – the seven-time Formula 1 world champion explained at the end of the Monaco Grand Prix.
“The strategy wasn’t very clear to me. The information wasn’t exactly that clear, and for most of the GP I barely knew anything. They told me over the radio ‘This is our race’ but I didn’t know what I was fighting for—whether I was going for the car ahead or something else. Actually, looking at the data, I wasn’t even close to any of the leaders. So I wore out the tyres a lot at that point, but I was still way behind. I feel a sense of emptiness. Coming into a weekend where you hoped to do better leaves you a bit down, but luckily we have another race next week.” – Lewis Hamilton concluded.
