Lewis Hamilton secured third place on the grid for the Monaco Grand Prix after an extremely competitive qualifying session that saw Ferrari take a small step backwards compared to its encouraging form on Friday.
The Monaco qualifying session ended with Lewis Hamilton in third position, behind a fiercely contested front row occupied by Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen. Compared to Friday’s practice sessions, qualifying revealed a Ferrari that appeared slightly less competitive, almost as if it had lost some ground to its main rivals overnight.
Hamilton’s performance was also less surprising when compared to the outstanding weekend he enjoyed in Canada. Nevertheless, Saturday once again highlighted how comfortable the seven-time Formula 1 World Champion feels behind the wheel of the SF-26 around the tight and unforgiving streets of Monte Carlo.
The British driver’s confidence in Ferrari was evident throughout the session, particularly in the second sector of the lap, where he was able to extract strong performance from the car and remain firmly in contention for the leading positions.
Third place on the grid is especially valuable because, as everyone knows, track position is everything in Monaco. Starting near the front is often the key to a successful race on Sunday. It will be particularly interesting to watch Hamilton’s start, and Ferrari’s launch performance in general, to understand whether the small advantage the SF-26 has shown off the line this season can be exploited around the Principality. However, the overall scenario remains extremely complicated.
Monaco GP, Hamilton: “It wasn’t an easy session”
After qualifying inside the top three, Lewis Hamilton spoke to F1TV to discuss his afternoon. Once he joined former Formula 1 World Champion and ex-McLaren teammate Jenson Button, his first words were reserved for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, congratulating the young Italian on securing pole position.
Lewis Hamilton then reflected on his own qualifying performance: “It was a difficult session for us. We looked incredibly strong on Friday and we barely changed the car, yet the feeling in qualifying was drastically different compared to the practice sessions.”
After admitting that the team would need to analyze the situation and understand what happened, the Briton added: “I gave absolutely everything I had. I got incredibly close to the barriers, but it’s still a privilege to be here, to be one of the 22 Formula 1 drivers who get to experience these sensations. I love every second of it.”
Having raced many times around the Monaco circuit, Lewis Hamilton also highlighted just how close and intense the qualifying battle had been. The competitiveness of the session was evident from the end of Q2, when only one thousandth of a second separated Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen, all the way through to the closing moments of Q3, when nothing could be taken for granted until the very last lap.
Monaco GP, Hamilton: “We’ll see at Turn 1”
With qualifying now complete, attention has shifted entirely to Sunday’s race. Lewis Hamilton will start from third place, and it will be fascinating to see how he approaches the run to Turn 1.
He has two formidable rivals directly ahead of him, while Mercedes has at times continued to struggle during race starts this season. However, Monaco often produces unique circumstances where conventional expectations can quickly be overturned.
Before ending the interview, Lewis Hamilton dedicated his final comments to the Ferrari team and the people working behind the scenes in Maranello: “I want to say a big thank you to the guys back at the factory and to everyone here at the track. We didn’t bring any updates this weekend, yet we’re still fighting at the front, so I’m very curious and optimistic when I think about the upgrades we’ll bring in the future.”
Lewis Hamilton then concluded with a final reference to Sunday’s race:
“We’ll see tomorrow, especially when it comes to Turn 1.”
Leave a Reply