Hamilton: top 5 would have been difficult

Lewis Hamilton experienced one of his worst qualifications with Mercedes by only taking 13th position on the grid for the Monaco GP where qualifying is particularly important. The three-time world champion complained on his radio about a lack of grip forcing him to attack at the limit to aim for a place in Q3. His last attempt was aborted following the yellow flag displayed at the end of the session to evacuate the McLaren MCL32 from Stoffel Vandoorne.

“I think I would have struggled to qualify for Q3, admitted Lewis Hamilton on Sky Sports. My last lap might have allowed me to reach the top ten, but I probably would have struggled to get into the top five afterwards with the pace I had and the problem I had on the car ".

An isolated problem?

If the two Mercedes drivers were in difficulty, Valtteri Bottas was however able to secure 3rd position on the grid behind the Ferrari by Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel.

“It’s still reassuring to see that Valtteri was able to exploit the performance of the car. This shows that the situation is not so desperate. We just need to understand why I couldn't rise to his level.", added Lewis Hamilton.

The start of the Monaco Grand Prix will be contested this Sunday from 14 p.m. and will be to follow exceptionally in live streaming on our website.