Lewis Hamilton’s life changed completely after the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where he lost what was to be his eighth world title on the final lap of the race to Max Verstappen.
Since then, the Briton has found himself with a Mercedes W13 very far from the expected performance, and has barely managed to get on the podium once, at the opening round of the course in Bahrain thanks to the double abandonment of Red Bull, in the current course.
The arrival in Monaco was a good opportunity to find out if the Germans took a step forward in the development of their car after the sensations in Barcelona, where they came to fight for victory with George Russell, but the streets of the Principality were a jar of cold water for those of Brackley.
The car wasn’t quite up to par with the Ferraris and Red Bulls, and Lewis Hamilton couldn’t get past eighth in the race, where he was stuck behind Fernando Alonso from the start.
“It was a bit frustrating but this is what it is, you just have to be behind it!” explained the Stevenage driver, commenting on what it had been like to see the Alpine’s wing at all times.
The Englishman, visibly frustrated by what happened in the Monegasque test, spoke to the media about his situation at Mercedes. Asked if this poor start to the year was affecting him, the seven-time world champion said: “Yes, but what good is letting it consume me?”
“It is the way it is, and there’s not much I can do about it,” Hamilton continued. “We will go back to the factory and try harder, try again in the next race.”
These four points make the Englishman sixth overall with 50 drivers, although far behind his teammate, George Russell, who is fourth with 34 more points.
The Englishman is not happy with the behavior of the car, and does not hide in saying that he hopes to do better in Baku: “I am praying that the car does not feel like it does here. This was the worst in this car so far only because of the potholes “.
“I’m looking forward to it going away, just my teeth, my jaw moving all the time, I’m done shaking,” he said. “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.
