Lewis Hamilton qualified for the Monaco Grand Prix in seventh place, two positions behind George Russell, his Mercedes teammate, who has an advantage over the other British driver due to a car upgrade.
With a sly smile, Lewis Hamilton said he thought George Russell would keep out-qualifying him this year.
Russell, a teammate, is Mercedes’s future, while Hamilton will leave at the end of the current season. Additionally, in comparison to the seven-time Formula 1 champion, the younger Briton has an outstanding qualifying record this season.
For the seventh time in eight Grands Prix in 2024, Russell defeated Hamilton with a fifth-place finish in Monaco yesterday. The 39-year-old clarified that although he still drives an older spec vehicle, his teammate drives an upgraded vehicle.
Furthermore, Hamilton was at a loss after an unimpressive performance when it mattered, despite shining in practice. He said that after becoming optimistic following his performance earlier in the weekend, it was “definitely” frustrating to be so low down on the grid.
“It looked great yesterday, and we’ve been working really hard to make improvements to this car,” he said. It felt fantastic right away, and we were clearly competitive both this morning and yesterday. We didn’t alter anything significantly or in any other way.
“I always knew it would be hard to out-qualify George because he has the upgraded component, and we only had one upgrade, which George possesses. But it’s encouraging to see that we are making improvements.
“However, after qualifying, I’m not sure why… I can already tell going into qualifying that I’m going to lose two tenths. That’s really annoying, and at this point, I’m not really sure how to respond to it. I’m driving exactly the same way, and the laps were excellent.
“This weekend, we’ve come a lot closer, which is fantastic to see. The car feels fantastic, so much better than in the past years. That being said, three and a half tenths is still a lot in this place and six tenths elsewhere. We therefore need to keep going even though we are still behind schedule. As more upgrades become available throughout the year, we will gradually get closer.
This year, Russell has had a much better qualifying record than Hamilton, who continued by saying he does not anticipate that to change as the season goes on. “I don’t expect to be ahead of George in qualifying this year,” he continued. We’ll see.
Russell said that Mercedes was making “huge progress,” but he also acknowledged that he was disappointed that he missed out on a spot in the second row. He expressed his hope that this would be a turning point for them.
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