“It felt like I was on ice” - Hamilton explains “dangerous” Monaco radio message

Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he was “so close” to having a “big shunt” during the changeable conditions at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W14. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 7, Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo, Monaco, Race
Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W14. Formula 1 World Championship,…

Chaos ensued in Sunday’s race in Monaco when rain poured.

There were isolated showers to begin with - Mirabaeu and the hairpin were most affected initially.

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The difficult conditions led to a radio message from Hamilton.

“It’s getting to a point where it’s pretty dangerous out here,” he said.

Unlike teammate George Russell, Hamilton made no mistakes to come home in fourth, pressuring Esteban Ocon at the end of the race for the podium.

Explaining the aforementioned radio message, he said: “It felt very twitchy and the tyres weren’t working so it was like I was on ice.

“After some time, the tyres started to work and it was absolutely fine. But I was so close to going off and crashing, having a big shunt.

“It was very, very bad. There’s really no word to describe how difficult it was.

“I think that from my side, I couldn’t get the temperature into the intermediate tyres, so I was just tiptoeing.

“I think our crossover was good, it’s just that I lost ground to everyone when I had to stop, so we were at a bit of a disadvantage there and it just made it a little bit trickier, but no mistakes, kept it on track.”

Mercedes now sit one-point behind Aston Martin in the race for second in the F1 2023 championship.

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