Hamilton gave ‘it absolutely everything’ after P3 in Monaco GP qualifying
6th June 2026Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton has claimed he ‘gave it absolutely everything’ as he finished third overall for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Feature image credit: Ferrari Media
Ahead of the Monaco GP weekend, Ferrari were favourites to make a strong performance around the streets of Monaco as their package and the unique track characteristics work in favour of the Italian squad. This was proven in both opening practice sessions on Friday, as both Charles Leclerc and Hamilton topped FP1 and FP2, respectively.
However, going into qualifying day in Monaco, one of the most important days of the weekend at the Principality, the team struggled to take a top time across FP3 and Qualifying, beaten on both accounts by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.
Speaking after qualifying, where Hamilton finished third, ahead of home hero, Leclerc, in fourth, the seven-time world champion confirmed the team had lost something in the car, urging a deep dive to figure it out. He said:
“Tough for us. I think we were looking so strong in practice and we barely changed anything, but the car was drastically different once we got to qualifying for some reason, so we have to take a deep dive into that. But I gave it absolutely everything.
“I was as close to the barriers as I could be and what a privilege it is to be here, to be one of the 22 drivers in Formula 1 getting to do this still. And yeah, I love every second of it.”
Qualifying around the streets of Monaco was tight between the top six drivers, who all remained within four-tenths of each other. But it was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Antonelli who had the tightest gap, with the four-time world champion only 0.043s off the Italian.
Hamilton praised how close the cars were in qualifying, as the Ferrari driver claimed he believed that he almost had pole position, but Verstappen and Antonelli put in better times.
“I think it is definitely very, very close between us all. You saw. I mean, jeez, I thought I almost maybe nearly had it, I don’t know, and then Max put in a good time and then Kimi.
“And I think it’s great to see how close all the cars are.”
The Monaco Grand Prix will get underway on Sunday at 3pm local time.
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Antonelli pips Verstappen to seal Monaco Grand Prix pole
- Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur to miss Saturday running after medical checks
- McLaren fined for technical breach at Monaco GP
- Hamilton tops second practice at Monaco Grand Prix
- Charles Leclerc leads Ferrari 1-2 at Monaco Grand Prix practice
- Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc summoned to stewards ahead of Monaco GP
- Why the Monaco Grand Prix Two-Stop mandate failed
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
