“Lewis was clearly agitated with the way his weekend was going in Monaco and that frustration boiled into the race” – Brawn
Last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix was a rare moment when Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton didn’t dominate from lights out.
Time and time again, Hamilton has proved himself a force to be reckoned with on track – most recently seen during the May 9th Spanish Grand Prix.
The British world champion managed to take the win at the Circuit de Catalunya with an impeccable race strategy that saw him make a last-minute pit stop for soft Pirellis.
Much to spectators’ surprise, he managed to prey on the leading Red Bull of Max Verstappen – who led the majority of the race – and ultimately made a final overtake on Lap 60/66 for the win.
However, things didn’t seem to go his way at the Circuit de Monaco, and he crossed the line in an extremely unfamiliar P7.
An understandably agitated Lewis Hamilton spoke to Sky Sports F1 after the race and simply said; “I don’t really have a reaction to it.
“We do all our talking in the background and we’ll work together and try to come out of this stronger.
“We underperformed as a team all weekend from the get-go and we’ll just put our focus on to the next race.
“Congratulations to Max and his team, they did a great job.”
Formula One Managing Director, Ross Brawn chimed in on the weekend’s proceedings to discuss the result that saw Mercedes ditch their usual positions at the front of the field to join the midfield contenders.
Brawn said Hamilton clearly brought his frustrations from Qualifying into the race, as things seemed to go from bad to worse for the silver arrows.
“Lewis was clearly agitated with the way his weekend was going in Monaco and that frustration boiled into the race, when he was unhappy with how his strategy was playing out”, he said.
“He’s a fierce competitor, so it should be expected that he will get frustrated when things don’t go his way.
“He has rarely had to experience this, so he’s a bit out of practice in handling these things.”
The Formula One boss went on to say that as time goes on and the team reflect on the things that went wrong, the world champions “will get over it”:
“Yes, he was pretty robust but when he reflects on this weekend, I’m sure he will look at it differently. Mercedes and Lewis have been together for a long time – and know each other well – so they will get over it. It won’t be an issue.”
Hamilton wasn’t the only Mercedes having an off weekend, “his teammate Valtteri was unlucky, too.
“He didn’t have the best car this weekend, but he looked in good shape for a podium before the pit stop problem. You see that issue once in a blue moon – and he’s been very unlucky.”
