Lewis Hamilton, penalty in Monaco: his bitter confession

Lewis Hamilton at the Monaco Grand Prix will start the race from the seventh box on the grid, despite the fourth-best time set during qualifying in Monte Carlo. The reason is a penalty imposed for impeding Max Verstappen during Q1. A problem that the Englishman had already reported in real time via radio to Ferrari engineers, and on which he later dwelt with the press at the end of the day.

“All I know is that at the Ferrari race wall there’s been a problem with the monitors – Hamilton explained.

-Basically the communication I received was that Verstappen had a fast lap going, but then he gave up. This was because at some point he disappeared from the GPS. After I was told he was no longer there, therefore, I started to accelerate again”.

The “mischief” was then consummated in the closing stages of the first sector, particularly at the height of the curve to the left of the Massenet. Here Hamilton returned to pushing, just as the already launched Verstappen overtook. And despite his non-trajectory position, the Ferrari driver admitted that the’obstacle was there: “I was all the way to the left, but it is clear that Max suffered a distraction anyway”.

However, a fourth place won “on track” remains, further proof of a growing familiarity with his Ferrari. “Already at Imola we took a major step forward – was in fact Hamilton’s analysis. Little by little it is getting better and better, and in Monte Carlo I felt even more comfortable. This car is very different from the ones I have driven in the past 12 years, and that is also why I am very happy with the recovery I am making”.