Sir Lewis Hamilton is defiant in the face of his difficult start to the 2022 season, affirming that he will continue to push to turn his results around.
Hamilton has now been out-performed in the last six races by George Russell as he finished eighth behind the fifth-placed 24-year-old, but he suffered more misfortune throughout the weekend.
He was denied a final run in qualifying by a red flag caused by Sergio Perez, and he was stuck behind Fernando Alonso for much of the race having also been caught up in an incident with the Spaniard’s Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon.
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Alonso was performing some extreme tyre management on Mediums for the second half of the grand prix when it transitioned from wet to dry, and he ended up over half a minute behind Lando Norris in P6.
It left Hamilton stuck in eighth as a result, but he understands that it was just typical Monaco.
“It was a bit frustrating but this is what it is, you just have to be behind it!” he said.
Since his podium in Bahrain at the start of the year, the seven-time champion’s best result has been P4 in Melbourne, and he has suffered multiple poor results as a result of the “porpoising” issue that has plagued the Silver Arrows for weeks.
It has not been an easy year, but the Briton vows to keep working hard despite the frustration he feels at where he is at present.
“Yes, but what good is letting it consume me?” added Hamilton.
“It is the way it is, and there’s not much I can do about it. We will go back to the factory and try harder, try again in the next race.”
The ground effect aerodynamics on the cars under the new technical regulations has meant that the cars run at a lower ride height, so the suspension has to be stiffer to cope with the additional load.
This conspires with the heavier cars to make turning into corners more difficult, but it also aggravates the amount of bouncing the drivers feel on a bumpy track like Monaco.
Hamilton hopes that the Brackley-based side can make his ride a lot smoother in the coming races.
“I’m praying the car doesn’t feel like it does here, this was the worst in this car so far because of the potholes,” he explained.
“I’m looking forward to it going away – just my teeth, my jaw moving all the time. I’m done shaking.
“I don’t know if it’s the porpoising. I hope it’s not what we had in the last race, so I want it to not be a problem. But if there are potholes, then in the corners we can have them.”
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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reckons that his driver would have been in the battle with Norris and Russell for fifth had it not been for Alonso holding him up in the second part of the race.
“He could have been right there and could have closed Lando [Norris, sixth], or even fight with George [Russell] and Lando at the front because that was his pace,” stated the Austrian.
“When you look at the bad spells Lewis had, stuck behind Fernando [Alonso] today, the contact with Esteban [Ocon], the red flag in qualifying yesterday.
“I think the pendulum will swing and this unlucky situation will stop with Lewis as [he and Russell] are very much on the same pace.”
Hamilton is now 24 points behind Russell in the Drivers’ Championship as the former Williams driver continues to excel in the W13, finishing every race so far this year in the top five.