Lewis Hamilton described his fifth-place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix as being in `no man`s land`, reflecting a frustrating race.
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur, however, stated that the British driver was `not upset at all` after the event, despite recent attention on Hamilton`s radio discussions with his race engineer, Ricciardo Adami.
Starting seventh due to a penalty received in qualifying for hindering Max Verstappen (which cost him a potential season-best fourth place), Hamilton managed to gain two positions, concluding the unique two-mandatory-pit-stop Monaco race in fifth.
Despite this gain, he finished significantly behind the leaders: 30 seconds adrift of Max Verstappen in fourth and 51 seconds behind winner Lando Norris. The driver in sixth place, Isack Hadjar, was 16 seconds behind Hamilton.
Reflecting on his race, Hamilton commented, “I can`t comment on the rest of the race; for me, I was in the middle of nowhere.”
He elaborated, “I started seventh, was stuck behind two cars for a while, eventually got past them, and then I was in no man`s land.”
“The distance to the cars ahead and behind was quite large, and I wasn`t really racing anyone. I needed a Safety Car or some incident to close the gaps, but it didn`t occur. From that point on, it was a fairly uneventful race.”
Early in the race, Hamilton found himself stuck in seventh place behind Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) and Isack Hadjar (Racing Bull). Despite being far behind the top four, his race engineer, Adami, instructed him on lap 17 to “push now, this is our race.”
Speaking after the Grand Prix, Hamilton confessed he was unsure about the reasoning behind that specific instruction.
“The communication wasn`t entirely clear,” he explained. “I didn`t truly grasp the meaning of `this is our race`.”
“I wasn`t sure what objective we were targeting,” he added. “Was I supposed to be challenging for the position ahead? However, looking at the data later, I was nowhere near the cars at the front. I pushed hard using the tyres, but I was already too far back for it to make a difference anyway.”
Vasseur: Hamilton `Not Upset` Despite Radio Confusion
Another notable radio exchange occurred on the cool-down lap after the race had concluded.
After Adami confirmed his fifth-place finish and mentioned time lost in traffic, Hamilton expressed gratitude to the team, particularly acknowledging their effort in repairing his car after his crash in the final practice session, stating they would “live to fight another day.”
Later on the same lap, Hamilton surprisingly asked his engineer, “Are you upset with me or something?”
When questioned about Hamilton`s radio conversations, both during and immediately after the race, Vasseur clarified the team`s communication protocols: “When the driver asks something between Turn 1 and Turn 3, we have to wait until the tunnel section to respond, specifically to avoid speaking to him through the corners.”
He added, “It`s not that we are asleep or taking it easy on the pit wall; it`s simply because there are designated sections of the track where we have agreed beforehand to communicate with the driver.”
Vasseur dismissed suggestions of tension, saying, “Honestly, there`s no tension just because the driver is asking something. He`s driving between walls, under immense pressure, and he`s fighting.”
He concluded by confirming, “I spoke with him after the race, and he wasn`t upset at all.”
Gilbert Pendleton