Lewis Hamilton shouldered the blame for his Monaco Grand Prix struggles as the Mercedes star narrowly dodged elimination. The seven-time champion admitted he ignored the advice of his Mercedes engineers ahead of qualifying and pressed ahead with a different set-up.
However, the new direction backfired with Hamilton almost being knocked out of qualifying on two occasions and dropping further down the field. He said: “Every time you make a change it’s like a roll of a dice, 50:50 chance it’s going to work. P1 to P2 was good.
“P2 to P3 I think was good but then we made a change into P3 which didn’t feel as good but it was faster in the middle sector but slower in the first and last. The car felt like a real handful and to switch on the tyres I really struggled with and that was the first time in this session.
“We know why and it was a decision I had taken against everyone’s judgement. I fought for something and it made it even harder probably. But I got a really good lap at the end and that is really as fast as our car was going to go. In a perfect world maybe there is a tenth left in it.”
The Silver Arrows star was seconds away from being knocked out of Q1 after struggling for grip. Hamilton was again in the elimination zone in the dying seconds of Q2 before saving himself on his final run.
But, he improved in the final part of qualifying to go sixth queskets, faster than team-mate George Russell who will start P8. Mercedes introduced a range of new upgrades his weekend in a bid to close the gap to the frontrunners.
A range of new aerodynamic tweaks have been introduced including a new floor, front suspension and sidepod design. Hamilton praised the changes after qualifying but stressed it would be hard to see how effective they were until next time out.
He added: “I’ve generally loved the challenge of being in the car, definitely with the changes we’ve made, for which I’m so grateful for everyone back at the factory. They have worked so hard to build these components for the car and I’m glad I didn’t break the new components.
“I broke the wing which I’m sorry for but those changes have helped the feeling so it definitely feels like it’s going in the right direction. I don’t think we are going to get a full read of the new sidepods and everything until we get somewhere like Barcelona where we will see the car come more alive I think.”
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