Hamilton did not enjoy his “miserable race” at Monte Carlo

Despite impressive pace in qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was demoted to a seventh-place start on Sunday which massively limited his prospects for a strong result in the Principality.

Despite Ferrari’s low expectations ahead of the weekend, Charles Leclerc displayed eye-catching pace through the practice sessions, setting the benchmark in all three one-hour outings.

The Ferrari driver continued to impress in qualifying, but he failed to beat Lando Norris and was left in second place.

Despite the introduction of the mandatory two-stop strategy for this year’s Monte Carlo round, there was no change at the front, with Leclerc coming home second behind the his McLaren rival.

His team-mate Lewis Hamilton looked in fine form too as the Briton secured fourth place on the the grid. However, a three-place penalty saw him start the Monte Carlo race from only P7 on the grid.

Although the Briton was able to clear Fernando Alonso and Isack Hadjar in the first round of pit stops, he found himself in a no man’s land, and brought his Ferrari home in P5.

Expanding on his race in the Principality, Hamilton said that he found himself in no man’s land in what he called a miserable race at Monte Carlo.

“I think from where I was, a three-place grid penalty moving forwards back to fifth, I think was decent – the best I could do. It was miserable.

“The races here are generally, unless you’re first and in the lead, even when you’re in the lead, it’s not that fun. Just a nice reward at the end but other than that, anything but first is kind of empty.”

“Obviously I started with the penalty I had down in seventh, was obviously behind two cars for some time and then managed to clear them and then I was kind of just in no man’s land after that. I think the gap was relatively big and I wasn’t racing anyone.

Hamilton continued: “I needed the Safety Car or something to come into play but it didn’t happen so it was just pretty straightforward from there.”

“I knew starting in P7 was going to be a challenge today, but it’s good to see our progress overall. Once I found some clear air, I was able to make up a bit of ground, although we lost quite a bit of time in traffic and the balance wasn’t quite where we wanted it.

“Still, we came away with a podium for Charles, as well as some solid points for the team and it’s encouraging we’re heading in the right direction.

“We made a step forward in qualifying, which was a key focus, so a big thanks to everyone for the hard work in getting the car into a more competitive place across the whole weekend. We’ll keep pushing and look to build on this in Barcelona”

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