Lewis Hamilton bemoaned a “miserable” Monaco Grand Prix where he was “nowhere”, while the Briton also once again questioned Ferrari’s communication during the race.
Hamilton finished fifth after starting seventh in Monte Carlo but endured a lonely Sunday, comfortably clear of Isack Hadjar behind him but never threatening the top four. He finished almost a minute behind race winner Lando Norris.
“I think from where I was, a three-place grid penalty moving forwards back to fifth, I think was decent — the best I could do,” Hamilton said afterwards.
But asked if his Sunday was enjoyable, he replied: “No, it was miserable.
“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.”
Speaking to Sky Sports, Hamilton couldn’t explain the gap to the front, adding “it just happens.”
“For me, I was kind of in the middle of nowhere,” Hamilton said.
“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.
“I needed the Safety Car or something to come into play but it didn’t happen so it was just pretty straightforward from there.”
Hamilton was also confused by Ferrari’s communication during the race, a frequent occurrence this season. At one stage, Hamilton was told to “push now … this is our race.”
“The information wasn’t exactly that clear, I didn’t understand the ‘this is our race’ [comment],” Hamilton said.
“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 tyres a lot in that moment but I was so far away from them.”
There was also a clip on social media circulating showing Hamilton saying, “are you upset with me or something?,” amid silence from his team after the race.
Team boss Fred Vasseur said afterwards that this was due to where Hamilton was on the track, rather than Ferrari refusing to respond.
Source: espn.com