Hamilton did not expect to finish 7th in Monaco

Lewis Hamilton certainly hoped to do better than 7th at the Monaco GP when arriving in the Principality, but the driver Mercedes limited the damage after missing his qualifying by only taking 13th position on the grid.

“I am really very happy to have been able to fight until 7th place, admits Lewis Hamilton. The strategists felt that a top ten finish was the most we could achieve today and it's a good feeling to have surpassed that goal. It's a good recovery to score 6 points after the disastrous day of Saturday. »

Lewis Hamilton is nevertheless 25 points behind the Championship leader Sebastian Vettel who won his second victory at the Monaco GP.

“It was impossible to overtake even though I tried everything to overtake Carlos (Sainz Jr) at the end, underlines Lewis Hamilton. I spoke on the radio to assure the team that the fight was not over. We are sure to put these red cars in trouble next time in Canada (June 11). We are in the middle of a fight, but there are still 14 races to go. »

Bottas without convincing

Valtteri Bottas also had a difficult race as he was only able to take 4th place losing to Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull).

“It hurts to miss a first podium in Monaco, admits Valtteri Bottas. We worked so hard this weekend to achieve this. I was slowed down in traffic while Daniel had a clear track and that cost me my place on the podium. Ferrari has been very strong this weekend and for some reason their cars seem easier to prepare. We have to learn from this, but it's a long year. I hope this will be our worst weekend of the season. Canada should give a different story. »

Mercedes GP is now 17 points behind Scuderia Ferrari.

Discover the analysis of the Monaco GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2116 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.