Lewis Hamilton finished P5 in the Monaco GP on Sunday after starting from P7 due to a three-place grid drop. The Ferrari driver benefitted from a solid pitstop strategy but ultimately lost out to Max Verstappen’s superb race pace and the wickedly quick McLarens. Hamilton shared his opinion on the newly implemented mandatory two-stop at the Monaco GP in his post-race interview.
Hamilton unconvinced that the new rule significantly altered the Monaco GP
While his race strategy was clearly affected by the new rule, Hamilton’s race result was more or less unaffected. When asked about the two-stop mandate, Hamilton stated that it was less effective than it was advertised to be.
“I can’t comment on other people’s, but for me, it didn’t really make a big difference necessarily, for me.”
This circuit supports one-stop races, which causes drivers to conserve pace to save their tyres. Due to its narrow track and the layout of the slow corners, the Monaco GP tends to offer less overtakes, making for a straightforward–albeit slightly boring–race. Hamilton spoke about this in his print media interview post-race.
“I would imagine it was better for the race, because people would just stop and just go forever and hold everyone up and drive slow, so… But maybe they’ll do that again, I don’t know.
“To drive it on a single lap, it’s incredible. The Friday and Saturday is unbelievable, and the Sunday is kind of the day that you want off, almost.”
Status of the Ferrari and upcoming front wing regulations going into Barcelona
Hamilton finished P4 at the Imola GP last weekend, his best finish in a Grand Prix for Scuderia Ferrari at this point. Hamilton appears to be more comfortable in the Ferrari as he gains experience. However, the British driver views this weekend’s Monaco GP as a setback, aside from his qualifying performance.
“Last week was good, this week’s not been so great, as you can see, so performance-wise, I mean, qualifying fourth was not bad.”
Next weekend’s Spanish GP in Barcelona will see some rule changes to do with the cars’ front wings. When asked about how this rule change would affect the SF-25, Hamilton seemed relatively unconcerned.
“It affects balance a little bit, but I don’t think it’s massive. And it affects everyone pretty much the same, so I can’t see it making much difference.”
Heading into the Spanish GP, Hamilton continues to pursue his first Grand Prix podium with Ferrari. Tied with Michael Schumacher for the most race wins at the Spanish GP with six, hopefully Lewis Hamilton can convert his expertise to success next weekend.
