The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Mercedes ‘worried’ about Monaco track
FORMULA ONE: Hamilton and Wolff keen to avoid repeat of last year’s misery
Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes team will head to Monaco “worried” that they could face a repeat of their horror show last year.
Hamilton turned on the style to crush his rivals by winning so impressively in Spain on Sunday and extend his championship lead to a healthy 17 points over Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton toasted his triumph with the former McLaren driver Kevin Magnussen, who finished sixth for Haas, into the early hours ahead of his return to the cockpit of his Mercedes tomorrow for this week’s test at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The streets of Monte Carlo proved last year’s nadir for Hamilton after he qualified only 14th and took the chequered flag in a lowly seventh place on a weekend to forget for the Brit and Mercedes.
Hamilton, along with team-mate Valtteri Bottas who will drive for Mercedes on Wednesday, will this week rack up valuable mileage to gather as much information as possible ahead of the Monte Carlo race a week on Sunday.
“I’m worried,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said.
“We have seen there are tracks which suit us well and some that we are not perfect at.
“For whatever reason it is very difficult to undo the DNA of our car, and Monaco, as well as Hungary and Singapore, are tracks where we have under-performed at.
“As much as I am overwhelmed by the victory here, my mind is already on Monaco, and I remember it wasn’t a pleasant Sunday night last year.”
The slow-speed nature of the most famous race on the F1 calendar is one which played into Ferrari’s hands last term as Vettel led Kimi Raikkonen home in a one-two finish for the Italian team.
“There are a lot of challenging races coming up and Monaco is a serious challenge,” Hamilton added.