Lewis Hamilton called out for his cryptic comments by W Series Champion: "I think he should take his hat off to George"

Former W Series champion Jamie Chadwick has called out Lewis Hamilton's comments after qualifying in Monaco. The British racer claimed that the Mercedes driver was trying to spin a different narrative about George Russell getting preferential treatment at the team.

Lewis Hamilton started the F1 Monaco GP on a positive note after he finished P1 in FP1 and P2 in FP2. However, on Saturday, George Russell started gaining ground on him. George was ahead when the duo reached the final qualifying lap in Q3.

For the race in Monaco, George Russell qualified in P5 while Lewis Hamilton was in P7. Hamilton made cryptic comments after the session, claiming that he expected to lose two-tenths in qualifying. He also touched on George having an upgraded front wing on his car and claimed that these factors have contributed to a 1-7 deficit in qualifying.

Talking about the Mercedes driver's comments on the Channel 4 broadcast, Jamie Chadwick said Lewis Hamilton knew what he was doing when he was trying to spin it to make it seem like Mercedes gave George Russell preferential treatment. Chadwick said that Lewis should probably take his hat off to George for his performance in qualifying. Jamie said (via Planet F1):

"I think he knows what he’s doing. He’s spinning it to make it sound like he’s maybe not got the upgrades this weekend which for me, I’m not sure about because a team like Mercedes, they generally always bring upgrades to both cars."

She added:

“It’s not like they need to split it between the two cars. So yeah, I think he should take his hat off to George. He’s 7-1 on someone like Lewis Hamilton, which is incredible. And I think Lewis is probably not happy about that, to be honest. And that’s where that comment has come from.”

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What did Lewis Hamilton say after qualifying in Monaco?

Lewis Hamilton's comments turned heads when the Mercedes driver claimed that he expected to lose two-tenths coming into qualifying after the qualifying session in Monaco. He also specifically mentioned George Russell having an upgraded front wing on his car.

Hamilton also claimed that he didn't expect to beat George Russell in qualifying this season. He told Sky Sports (via Planet F1):

"The team have worked really hard back at the factory to bring an upgrade in the last two races and also an update this weekend – but we only have one, which George has. So I anticipated it would be difficult to outqualify George because he has the upgraded component, but it’s just great to see that we are bringing upgrades. But once we get to qualifying, I don’t understand."

He added:

“I already know automatically that I’m going to lose two tenths going into qualifying. That’s definitely frustrating and something that I don’t really have an answer for at the moment."

It remains to be seen what happens for the rest of the season at Mercedes because Hamilton would certainly not be comfortable losing to George Russell this consistently.