Lewis Hamilton issued praise for his “old family” Mercedes for producing a dominant Formula 1 car, after Andrea Kimi Antonelli took victory in the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Italian held firm and strong amid a chaotic race – including a red flag – in the principality, and held off Hamilton at the restart to take a fifth straight victory.
Antonelli’s success takes him 68 points ahead in the Drivers’ Championship, with George Russell finishing 13th and out the points after a drive-through penalty.
Hamilton was the sole Ferrari driver on the podium with teammate Charles Leclerc crashing out upon a Safety Car restart, owing to a brake issue.
After the race, the Brit was magnanimous in his second place, and was full of compliments for the Silver Arrows, his former team..
“I have to start by congratulating Kimi and the Mercedes team,” he said. “My old family, they’ve done it again.
“They’ve created an amazing car and Kimi’s doing an incredible job just delivering weekend in, weekend out. It’s great to see and I’m really happy for them.”
Lewis Hamilton admits ‘a lot of work’ for Ferrari in Senna-matching podium
Hamilton’s podium was an eighth in the principality of Monaco, equalling the record held by hero and six-time Monaco GP victor, Ayrton Senna.
The seven-time World Champion admitted that there is a lot of catching up to do for Ferrari against the Brackley-based squad, but issued gratitude for the momentous result.
“On our side, I think we’ve been progressing over the past months and can’t quite keep up with them just yet,” he said. “It’s probably going to take a lot of work for us to get to that level.
“But to get another second place is such a great feeling, especially in Monaco. Under the trickiest conditions, it was the hardest conditions out there.
“We’ve had such a great turnout today as well. I’ll definitely take it.”
Hamilton will be looking for a third straight podium, and a fourth of the season, next week in Spain,
READ MORE – Kimi Antonelli avoids chaos to score commanding F1 Monaco GP victory
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