By Alan Baldwin
MONACO, May 27 (Reuters) – The start was poor, his pitstop
disappointing and even the numbers on the pit board provided a
slap in the face for Lewis Hamilton at his favourite Monaco
Grand Prix on Sunday.
McLaren’s 2008 world champion started the race at his
favourite track in third place on the grid and ended the
afternoon fifth, the two places lost in the pits.
Before the weekend the 27-year-old had been the favourite
but Hamilton left the paddock contemplating a season that now
boasts an unprecedented six different winners from six races
without his name being among them.
“I really dislike going backwards, but nonetheless we came
away with some points and there are many more races ahead of us,
so we have to try and keep our heads up and keep pushing,” he
told reporters.
“My start was one of the worst I’ve had in a long time. I
just don’t understand why it happens when the two guys ahead of
me, and some behind, got perfect starts,” added the Briton, now
fourth in the championship and 13 points off the lead.
“After that I don’t know how long my pit stop was, it was
quite a long time, but I wasn’t able to keep up with Alonso, and
then Sebastian got me in his pitstop, and then it’s impossible
to overtake.”
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished third in the race, won by
Red Bull’s Australian Mark Webber, to take the overall lead in
the standings while double world champion Sebastian Vettel was
fourth for Red Bull.
Both got ahead of Hamilton thanks to his pitstop being
longer than theirs.
Hamilton said the pitboard numbers indicating his position
and times had only added to his woes.
“The guys holding the pitboards, particularly at the
beginning coming out of the last corner, about two or three of
the slips fell out and hit me in the front of my helmet,” he
said.
“I don’t know if it happened to anyone else, but I was like
‘This is getting ridiculous’, and they kept dropping them and
dropping them, and there were some on the floor.
“I was saying ‘Someone do something about it’ because my
visor was getting worse and worse. They need to do a better job
in securing those.”
Hamilton also struggled in the low-speed corners, while
looking after the rear tyres was hard work.
He still had a better time than team mate Jenson Button, the
2009 winner in Monaco on his way to winning the title that
season, who failed to finish due to a collision and a puncture
but was still classified 16th.
“At least I didn’t do the last eight laps and feel pain for
even longer,” said Button, who started 12th and spent much of
the race battling Heikki Kovalainen’s Caterham.
“I couldn’t wait for the race to be over.”
(editing by Ed Osmond)
