Lewis Hamilton says his Mercedes car performed in the “most unusual way” in Monaco since he joined the squad at the start of 2013.
Hamilton, victorious in China and Spain this season, topped Thursday’s opening practice session but slipped down the order amid an incorrect set-up direction, and was eliminated in the second part of qualifying.
Hamilton lined up from 13th on the grid but made progress to seventh, profiting from extending his stint on Ultra Soft tyres and the problems encountered by a handful of midfield rivals.
However, Hamilton slipped 25 points behind race winner and title leader Sebastian Vettel as a result of their respective classifications.
“It’s definitely not proving very easy to get,” Hamilton joked of his quest for a fourth title.
“It’s the most unusual way the car has felt in all the years I’ve been with the team.
“It’s going to be a difficult one, it doesn’t deter us from the fact that we have a great car, perhaps we just didn’t hit the nail on top of the head this weekend.
“We’ll re-group and get the car back to where it’s comfortable for the next races, try and understand the Ultra Soft tyre a bit better.”
Hamilton lost out to Vettel in race trim in Australia, and struggled for pace in Russia and Monaco, the three events at which Pirelli’s Ultra Soft tyre has been used.
When asked if there was a trend between the tyre compound and his own form, Hamilton replied: “I really don’t know.
“I can’t really say if there’s a pattern because we had issues in Melbourne, it was an issue but there’s some other things that came in the car there.
“Sochi was an issue for me personally with tyres and here [in Monaco], they’re two completely different speed range of circuits but similar tarmac.
“Trust me the guys are pushing hard to fully understand as we can’t get into this position again as one more race like this and we’ll be much further behind.”
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