Lewis Hamilton drove the upgraded Mercedes W14 to a fourth place finish at the 2023 Monaco Grand Prix, claiming the team have moved forward with their revised car.
Lewis Hamilton drove the upgraded Mercedes W14 to a fourth place finish at the The seven-time Formula 1 Champion drove a strong race in his newly updated W14, and made up for a crash in FP3 on Saturday, and while Monaco was always going to be a tough track to gauge the new Mercedes upgrades, Hamilton has already declared the team are on the mend.
“I’m really happy. We’ve moved forwards,” he told Sky Sports F1 after the race on Sunday where he led teammate George Russell in a 4-5 finish for Mercedes.
“Coming into the weekend I didn’t know where we would stand so to come out fourth and fifth is really great points for the team.
“Huge thank you to everyone back at the factory for bringing those upgrades. We kept it in one piece, we beat the Ferraris and we really got some great points as a team,” he added.
“Next week Barcelona is the best test circuit for us so it was really difficult here to know,” the Briton pointed out. “The car felt very stiff, there are lots of bumps – I felt one particular part of the car that was better but I don’t know how that will be next week.
“I’m sure it will be a much better package next week,” Hamilton, who after qualifying claimed his car was difficult to drive, concluded.
Russell laments losing a chance of a podium
Russell, rued a mistake during the race when he collided with Sergio Perez’s Red Bull, claiming he could have otherwise fought for a podium.
“P3 was definitely achievable today” Russell said just after the race. “I’ve only learnt my mistake wasn’t shown on TV – I was comfortably ahead of Lewis and Ocon because I hadn’t pitted on the slick.
“I went straight from the hard to the intermediate so came out in P5 behind the Ferraris who were on slicks so we were effectively P3 on the road.
“There were yellow flags so I backed off and when I touched the brake I just locked up and followed the yellow flag. That was a lesson to me that sometimes when you’re not fully on it and fully focused that’s when mistakes happen.
“Really disappointed because if that mistake didn’t happen P3 was almost guaranteed,” Russell concluded.
Mercedes’ double-point finish in Monaco means the team are third in the Constructors’ Standings, only one point behind Aston Martin who are second.
An intense race. But some good points scored. 💪 pic.twitter.com/KRP4L5Dg7l
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 28, 2023