Formula 1 | Hamilton: A victory in Monaco is unlikely
Lewis Hamilton has played down Mercedes F1’s chances of victory this weekend after their best performance of the year in Spain, but expects them to be in contention to win a race by the Grand Prix de Grande -Brittany.
Mercedes F1 released a significant upgrade to their W13 last weekend which helped Hamilton and George Russell to a top five finish.
Red Bull and Ferrari have won all six races so far this year. Hamilton doesn’t expect Mercedes to have the pace to challenge them in Monaco, although this circuit can cause surprises and level the performance of single-seaters.
“Since we just made some changes in the last race, I don’t think it will be as bad as in the other races. But I don’t think I’m going to play for victory here, even if Monaco can promise more surprising results, like with Ferrari last year which was on pole.”
Ferrari looked particularly strong through the slow-paced chicane at the end of the lap at Circuit de Barcelona, which is often seen as a good predictor of performance on Monaco’s tight track.
“We haven’t been as quick at low speeds so far this year. I expect Ferrari, who have a lot of downforce and mechanical grip, to be very quick this weekend. I just hope we won’t be as far as we got in Barcelona.”
“And hopefully we’ll be where we want to be, which is winning, by Silverstone.”
“I know everyone at the factory is working as hard as they can to keep the car moving forward and I have no doubt we will.”
“So hopefully at Silverstone we’ll have the car we need, to be able to fight with them and Red Bull for the win. That’s what I work for every day so that we can fight at the level where we need to be and thus offer the best possible competition to all the fans.”