Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team endured an difficult afternoon at the Monaco Grand Prix, as both drivers failed to reach the top five.
Lewis Hamilton had a positive morning at the Monte Carlo street circuit, as he finished with a time of 1:13.425s to top the leaderboard, his team-mate Valtteri Bottas was 0.366 seconds behind him in fourth. Bottas did not have the performance to reach touching distance of Hamilton.
In Free Practice 2, this performance took a backwards step, Mercedes changed the set-up of the cars over the break and Hamilton finished in eighth. With a disappointing time of 1:13.873s, which saw him finish ahead of Bottas as the set-up effected both cars.
For Technical Director James Allison he admits that Mercedes clearly took a step in the wrong direction for FP2, but can be encouraged by the pace and consistency in FP1.
“After a very positive morning session with both cars and drivers,” said Allison. “The afternoon proved more difficult.
“We clearly took a step in the wrong direction with the car set-up over the break. We will have a good think about it tomorrow in order to put things right for Saturday. But I think we can be encouraged by the pace and consistency that we were able to demonstrate in FP1.”
