The Monaco Grand Prix came to an end after a lengthy red-flag interruption caused by a problem with the track surface at Turn 19, followed by a standing restart from the grid.
After a series of incidents and technical problems that ultimately led to the retirement of seven drivers, the podium was occupied by Kimi Antonelli, Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar.
The comments
It was yet another podium finish for the Ferrari driver, who finally appears to have found some consistency and confidence with the SF-26. Speaking after the race, Lewis Hamilton first turned his attention to the dominant winners of the day.
“I have to start by congratulating Kimi and the Mercedes team. They are a family and they’ve done it once again. They’ve built a fantastic car and Kimi is doing an incredible job. He keeps delivering great weekend after great weekend. It’s really nice to see and I’m very happy for them.”
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion also reflected on Ferrari’s recent progress, while acknowledging that the Scuderia still has work to do if it wants to challenge Mercedes consistently.
“On our side, I think we’ve been making progress over the last few months. We still can’t match the pace of Mercedes and we probably have a lot more work ahead of us, but securing another second-place finish feels fantastic,” Lewis Hamilton admitted.
“Especially here in Monaco, under probably the most difficult conditions possible, because I’ve never seen conditions this challenging at this circuit. There was also an amazing crowd, so I’ll gladly take this result and bring it home.”
Lewis Hamilton then explained some of the difficulties Ferrari faced throughout the race, particularly regarding tyre management and overall performance.
“The car is working well, but we need more downforce. With these tyres and all the different situations we had during the race, I used up my tyres quite early in the first stint and then the second stint became very long. These tyres simply don’t cope well with such a long second stint, so it was difficult to hold on.
“On top of that, we had some temperature-related issues, including during the restart.”
The British driver also highlighted how difficult the conditions were for everyone on the grid, pointing out that several competitors struggled to keep their cars on track.
“We saw it with other drivers as well. It was difficult just to stay on the circuit. All the unexpected situations we had during the race made everything extremely demanding. But I’m very happy with the result.
“I want to thank everyone both at the factory and at the track because they are working incredibly hard to achieve these results. We’ll keep pushing even harder to take that final step and reach the top step of the podium,” Lewis Hamilton concluded.
Ferrari still faces a significant challenge if it wants to close the gap to Mercedes. Kimi Antonelli currently looks almost untouchable at the front, while George Russell continues to struggle to extract the same level of performance from the W17.
The Monaco Grand Prix delivered plenty of drama and excitement this year, producing one of the most eventful races seen in the Principality in recent seasons. Ferrari will leave Monte Carlo encouraged by another podium finish for Lewis Hamilton, but aware that more progress is needed if it hopes to challenge Mercedes for victories in the coming rounds.
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