Lewis Hamilton was fine to move forwards in F1 Monaco GP after penalty, as Frederic Vasseur clarifies on pace loss and the conversation with the race engineer.
After a solid fourth place finish on Saturday in F1 Monaco GP, the grand prix for Ferrari’s Hamilton was undone due to the three-place penalty for impeding Max Verstappen. It was a misunderstanding in ascertaining the Dutchman’s push lap which caused the issue but it came with a heavy price.
Lining up seventh, the best was fifth and if more, a maximum of fourth was possible, provided everyone ahead finishes. Hamilton did manage to get up to fifth but once there he was stuck. There was chance to clear Verstappen, but the Brit seemingly did not have enough legs to create enough gap.
From the radio, it is unclear if there was any intent on trying to catch Verstappen, who pitted on the last lap. Traffic certainly did not help Hamilton, but it is not clear if pace also played a role since he lost a good chunk of time even on a fresher compound to the Dutchman.
For Hamilton, he was happy to have gone forwards at least, as he reckons they can try two-stop ruling for the time to come. “I moved forwards at least, that’s the positive,” he said to media. “But yeah, kind of frustrating that I was kind of put out with the penalty, yeah long afternoon. I mean, I can’t comment on other people’s, but for me, it [strategy] didn’t really make a big difference necessarily, for me.
“I would imagine it was better for the race, because people would just stop and just go forever and hold everyone up and drive slow, so… But maybe they’ll do that again, I don’t know. Definitely they can keep on trying this one, I don’t know but it will be for a reporter to say whether it was exciting or not exciting. It felt very similar to before, it is very-very difficult…you obviously can’t overtake but still it is an amazing spectacle, an amazing location, I have never seen so many people here. To drive it on a single lap, it’s incredible.
“The Friday and Saturday is unbelievable, and the Sunday is kind of the day that you want off, almost. Last week was good, this week’s not been so great, as you can see, so performance-wise, I mean, qualifying fourth was not bad. Hope for a better weekend in Barcelona,” summed up Hamilton, who feels the wing change in Barcelona should help but cautions that it will change anything hugely.
“It definitely will have an effect,” he said. “It affects balance a little bit, but I don’t think it’s massive. And it affects everyone pretty much the same, so I can’t see it making much difference.” The Brit wasn’t asked as much about his pace loss and radio communication, but team boss Vasseur certainly spoke on his behalf, explaining both the important topics.
The Frenchman noted the pace loss for Hamilton was more down to traffic he had in both his stints. The backmarkers gave way easily to front-runners but not so much to the Brit, who was mostly alone on the track. Vasseur also played down any rift between the Brit and his race engineer. During the grand prix, the seven-time champion requested for more information.
While the race engineer obliged, but it didn’t come without insistence. So much so that, Hamilton asked after the race on the radio if Riccardo Adami was upset with him, but his race engineer was mostly quiet after his initial message. “He lost almost 10 seconds more than the others, when he joined the group of cars that were left,” said Vasseur. “I don’t remember who was in this group, but it was a difficult time for him.
“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 Verstapen, who was ahead at this stage, he lost something like 10 seconds in this sequence. As for the radio, because when the driver is asking something between Turn 1 and Turn 3, we have to wait the tunnel to reply, to avoid to speak with him during the corners.
“It’s not that we are sleeping, it’s not that we are having a beer on the pit wall, it’s just because we have a section of the track where we agreed before to speak with him. And honestly, it’s not a tension that the guy is asking something, he is between the wall, he is under pressure, he is fighting, he is at 300 kmph between the walls, and I am perfectly fine. When I spoke with him after the race, he was not upset at all.”
Here’s Charles Leclerc, Frederic Vasseur on Monaco GP
Here’s how F1 Monaco GP panned out
