Toto Wolff “OK” with Lewis Hamilton & George Russell’s Monaco Qualifying Result

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff spoke about the performances of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in the qualifying race for the Monaco GP. Russell and Hamilton secured P5 and P7 spots for Sunday's main race respectively.

The Monaco Grand Prix qualifying sessions was yet another display of the challenging season that 2024 has been for eight-time Constructors' champions Mercedes. Despite impressive showings in the practice sessions, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton failed to qualify higher than P5 at the Principality, highlighting the team's struggles with the W15.

However, Russell’s performance stood out in a tightly contested field, as he missed P3 by a mere 0.025 seconds. This weekend, the 26-year-old was the sole driver who was using a new development front wing, which the team brought ahead of schedule thanks to significant efforts from the factory. The decision for Russell to run the new wing was made in agreement with Hamilton and the team.

Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, qualified P7, trailing just eight-hundredths of a second behind his teammate. Both Hamilton and Russell utilized two new sets of soft tires in Q3, having shown strong progression through the earlier stages of the qualifying session.

After the event, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff shared his thoughts with Sky Sports F1, calling the performances of both drivers "OK". He said:

"Mercedes hit all the targets. I think P5, P7 is just the same-same a bit. The pace was good. We were just missing a tiny bit to P2. We hit all the targets but maybe that is the pace of the car at the moment. Being 0.270s away from pole is OK in Monaco."

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Lewis Hamilton expresses frustration over qualifying performance

Lewis Hamilton ahead of the final practice session at the Monaco GP

Lewis Hamilton voiced his frustration over his qualifying result at the Monaco GP. Speaking to Sportskeeda and other media outlets at the Monaco paddock, the 39-year-old reflected on the performance drop he experienced. Hamilton said:

"Yesterday was really strong. As soon as we started qualifying, it's like. I don't know if it's a turn down or something of performance, but performance comes away from my car for some reason. And so a bit frustrating that we are seventh."

Hamilton noted a pattern where Mercedes performs well in practice sessions but loses pace during qualifying.

"Well, I mean, it's. I expect it now. Every time I’m in qualifying, I already know that I'm gonna lose a couple of tenths," Hamilton said.

"I was driving the same through the whole through yesterday and today," he continued. "And the car, yes, it was performing pretty well. The small difference between two cars, George has the upgraded front wing, and so that created performance difference, particularly in the high speed. But otherwise, for some reason, once we got to qualifying, just add no more."

Lewis Hamilton has won the Monaco GP thrice throughout his career, triumphing in 2008, 2016 and 2019. The Brit is currently ranked eighth in the F1 Drivers' standings. He has 35 points to his name after seven races, with his best performance being finishing sixth in the last two races in Emilia-Romagna and Miami.