Hamilton: 'It's not a happy car at the moment'

©WRI2

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Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton are left with more questions than answers a day after the Brit's under-performance in yesterday's Monaco Grand Prix.

Hamilton was on the back foot at the outset last week, struggling for grip around Principality's twisty streets.

While the two-time world champion missed Q1 through no fault of his own, having aborted a fast lap because of a sudden yellow flag, his race performance on Sunday was still impacted by an underlining unknown issue.

"It’s not a happy car at the moment," admitted Hamilton.

"It’s the most unusual the car has felt in all the years I’ve been with the team.

"We’re no closer to understanding it but we definitely have to improve and see if we can do a better job.

"It’s a difficult one and there are so many things we need to look into to understand why one car will make it work and the other won’t."

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Indeed, team mate Valtteri Bottas enjoyed a better performance over the weekend, better exploiting his tyres and ultimately crossing the chequered flag fourth on race day.

"It was definitely unexpected for the engineers," added Hamilton.

"They corrected things and it was worse so then we went back to this unknown scenario.

"It turned out to be OK on Valtteri’s car but not great on mine.

"We’ll regroup but we know we can’t be in this position again. One more race like this and we’ll be much further behind."

Hamilton heads to Montreal next for the Canadian Grand Prix, a venue which historically has always delivered a positive result to the Brit.

"Montreal has been a great hunting ground for me in the past and I’d like that to continue," said the Mercedes driver.

"We’re going to work very, very hard over next two weeks to make sure we’re ahead of these Ferraris.

"They’ve had the strongest car all year, a little bit like our car was last year. But the more races we do, the more we learn and the stronger we get.

"We know the Ferraris are not bulletproof."

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Gallery: All the pictures from Sunday in Monaco

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.