Hamilton: That was one of those days in Monaco

The Briton tried to capitalize on the mixed conditions at the start of the race to try to move up the grid, but he was hit by the "Alpine curse" all race long, as he got a damaged front wing trying to overtake Esteban Ocon early on - something the Frenchman was blamed for with a five-second race penalty.

Later, Hamilton found himself stuck behind a road block in the form of Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard trotting around to save tyres, his former McLaren teammate unable to pass.

Hamilton reflected after the race: "That was one of those days in Monaco - stuck behind other cars for most of the race and, in the end, just cruising but not able to overtake.

"I was glad when the rain came because that usually creates opportunities, unfortunately it didn't play out that way and we couldn't get past Ocon when I was running on the intermediates," he added.

"It's been a tough weekend and I've had some unlucky situations, like the red flag in qualifying, so I'm looking forward now to turning the page and heading to Baku.

"It's a different kind of track, even though there are some similarities to the slow corners here in Monaco, but hopefully we can move forward and show a better level of performance like we saw in Barcelona," the seven-time Formula 1 Champion hoped.

George Russell had yet another better race than his decorated teammate, qualifying and finishing higher in fifth place, after what he labelled a tough and physical afternoon.

Russell said in the team's post race review: "That was a tough afternoon out there, very physical with the bumpy ride of the car, and a long afternoon across a range of conditions.

"It was tricky in the wet, holding onto the wet tyres for as long as possible, then I had a nice dice with Lando after the stops - and some strong pace on the hard tyre.

"It was tough on the medium in the second part of the race, with a lot of graining towards the end, but P5 is still a decent result. We encountered some of the limitations of our car at this track, but we've learned a lot and can put that to good use in the coming weeks to take another step forward.

"Overall, it's a decent result and I'm confident that we've got stronger days ahead of us," the 24-year-old concluded.

It was another "bouncy" weekend for Mercedes in Monaco, despite the team putting it down to the nature of the track and the stiff suspension setup of their W13. Baku will be another chance to validate whether Mercedes' recovery is real.