Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says the Monaco Grand Prix will be a case of “damage limitation” for Lewis Hamilton, after the Briton dropped out in the second segment of qualifying.
Hamilton led the way during Thursday’s opening practice session but slipped down the order amid a “false turn” with the set-up of the W08, and struggled in Q1.
Hamilton saved a wild moment through Massenet early in Q2 but his eventual lap was good enough for only 14th position, before Stoffel Vandoorne’s crash exiting Piscine brought out the yellow flags.
Hamilton was forced to back off, meaning he was eliminated from the session, though will move up a place to 13th due to Jenson Button’s engine-related grid penalty.
“With Lewis, you could see even from the TV pictures that he was struggling with the car and nearly lost it a couple of times in qualifying,” said Wolff.
“We don't know at the moment what went wrong: we took a false turn with the set-up on Thursday and, since then, although we tried to retrace our steps, we never got it back on track for him.
“Of course he was unfortunate with the yellow flag for Vandoorne in Q2, as he was on course to make it through the session, but the car never felt good for him after FP1 and that made it tough to put together the laps.
“Tomorrow's race will clearly be a case of damage limitation for him and trying to maximise his points score; but he will fight to the last lap.”
Hamilton, victorious in China and Spain this season, trails title leader Sebastian Vettel by six points.
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