During the recent Monaco Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton’s performance raised eyebrows and sparked discussion when Sky F1’s Bernie Collins expressed surprise at Hamilton’s lack of pace. Collins, drawing from her experience as a former lead performance engineer at McLaren and strategy chief at Aston Martin, described Hamilton’s showing as increasingly concerning for Ferrari, as he was expected to be the more confident driver heading into the race weekend.
Ferrari made efforts to bounce back from a disappointing double Q2 exit in Imola by securing a double points finish at Monaco, with Hamilton finishing fourth and Charles Leclerc sixth. However, alarm bells were ringing for Leclerc and team boss Fred Vasseur as expectations didn’t align with reality. Leclerc had dominated the practice sessions and was close to clinching pole position at his home race, only to see McLaren’s Lando Norris take the coveted spot and finish second, marking a season-best result for Leclerc.
In contrast, Hamilton finished fifth, trailing Lando Norris by 51 seconds and Max Verstappen by 31 seconds, while just missing the podium, which went to McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. Reflecting on Hamilton’s performance on Sky F1’s ‘The F1 Show,’ Collins noted the lack of pace is particularly concerning, as Monaco is a track Hamilton is known to love, and he entered the weekend with a level of confidence that seemed to surpass Leclerc’s.
Collins observed that Hamilton’s pace fell significantly during the second pit stop, allowing Piastri to pit and rejoin the race ahead of him. “I was a bit surprised that at the second pit stop, Lewis had lost enough time that Piastri could box and come out in front of him,” Collins said. She highlighted that while regulations have evolved, enabling top drivers to maintain pressure, Hamilton was unable to keep up with the leading pack, which was unexpected given his fondness for Monaco.
Hamilton found himself significantly lagging behind the leading quartet in the race’s closing stages, a fact he confronted through several terse exchanges with his race engineer Riccardo Adami via team radio. Miscommunications added to the tension, notably when Hamilton misinterpreted a message from Adami about “this is our race,” resulting in further frustration. Post-race, Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur downplayed a moment of radio silence when Hamilton inquired if Adami was upset with him or not.
The Monaco GP highlighted unexpected challenges for Lewis Hamilton and raised questions about Ferrari’s strategy and performance assessments. Bernie Collins’ insights have underscored the unpredictability of racing dynamics, especially for seasoned drivers like Hamilton, and have pointed to the critical need for alignment between driver expectations and team strategies.
