Ferrari explain Lewis Hamilton’s time loss in ‘no man’s land’ Monaco GP
Ferrari reveal what contributed to Lewis Hamilton finishing a distant fifth in the F1 Monaco Grand Prix.
Ferrari have explained the time loss which left Lewis Hamilton feeling like he was in “no man's land” during the F1 Monaco Grand Prix.
After a penalty for impeding Max Verstappen in qualifying dropped him from what would have been a season-best fourth on the grid to seventh, Hamilton was one of the few drivers who gained positions to claim fifth in Sunday’s race.
But the seven-time F1 world champion finished well adrift of the leaders and crossed the line 51 seconds behind race-winner Lando Norris after a perplexing time loss following his second and final pit stop.
Hamilton was left confused by his run to a distant P5 in the Principality.
"I can't comment on the rest of the race, for me I was in the middle of nowhere,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 after the race.
"I started seventh, was behind two cars for some time, managed to clear them, then I was in no man's land after that.
"The gap was relatively big and I was not racing anyone. I needed a Safety Car or something to come into play but it didn't happen. It was pretty straightforward from there.”
Hamilton went on to admit that he did not fully understand the communications from race engineer Riccardo Adami.
"The information wasn't exactly that clear. I didn't really understand 'this is our race’,” Hamilton said.
"I didn't know what I was fighting for. Was I fighting for the next spot ahead?
“But, in actual fact, when I look at the data I wasn't anywhere near any of the guys up front. I used up my tyres a lot in that moment but I was so far away from them anyway.”
Traffic hurt Lewis Hamilton’s race
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said that losing 10 seconds while navigating backmarkers was a contributing factor.
“He lost almost 10 seconds more than the others when he joined the group of cars who were lapped,” Vasseur told media including Crash.net.
“I don’t remember who was in this group, but it was a difficult time for him.
“Probably the fact that the others joined this group, packed one after the other, it was much easier, they were aware of the guys coming and a bit less with Lewis and he was alone.
“Compared to Verstappen, who was ahead at this stage, he lost something like 10 seconds in this sequence.”
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
