Hamilton “overslept” but eyeing second Monaco win

2014 Monaco Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton admitted he arrived late for the start of practice on Thursday at Monaco because he “overslept”.

But the Mercedes driver said he was very pleased with his car’s performance once he got running.

“It felt great,” Hamilton told reporters after setting the fastest time on the first day of running. “Really surprised that it started off so well, really.”

“Got in the car and was looking to just take it one step at a time but the track was amazing to drive and the car’s really behaving a lot better than it was last year, for me.”

Rain disrupted second practice but Hamilton said he began work on his race set-up during the dry first session.

“If we’d missed out both sessions, than maybe [it would have been a setback], but the fact we got that one session at the beginning is a huge plus because I got a long run in as well.

“So I feel pretty set for Saturday. Still some some work to do, just pick up some pace, but we’ll be good.”

Hamilton believes he has a chance to repeat his 2008 victory at the track.

“Monaco is one of the greatest races of all time, it’s such a classic,” he said. “I’ve been trying to win here for a long time and never had the car to do so apart from last year but I wasn’t able to really capitalise on it.”

“So I’m hoping this year, with the great car that we have, I’m hoping that I can do what I should do.”

2014 Monaco Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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47 comments on “Hamilton “overslept” but eyeing second Monaco win”

  1. What a pro!

    1. Lol @altitude2k
      i recon that instead of Friday should be Thursday.

      1. @keithcollantine has a time-machine to bring us the news before it happens.

        1. Fixed now.

  2. Surprising he says he likes the behaviour of this year’s car better than last year’s. Mercedes got it absolutely spot on with their W05.

    1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      22nd May 2014, 16:09

      I think a lot of it is the braking performance. He said he was very uncomfortable with last years cars’ brakes. But those problems are all gone with the W05.

      Your bang on, Mercedes have done a record-breakingly good job.

    2. it is more likely the new Pirellis tyres are helping him, he is hopeless on tyres that wear… this year the tyres are durable. oh, and the fact he has a car faster by 1 second per lap over the rest of the field :P

      1. There are many races where Hamilton has actually been much stronger on his tires than his team mate. Every driver can punish a set too much at times, but I wouldn’t say Hamilton is ” hopeless on tyres that wear” as hes proved this to be untrue several times.

      2. Any F1 fan worth his salt should know by now that the “Lewis is hopeless on tyre wear” argument simply has and never had any foundation. But then again there are many kinds of fans…..

        1. Fast drivers wear tyres.

      3. Amanuel Tesfaye
        22nd May 2014, 18:56

        Everyone is on the same Pirelli tyres. It’s not just Hamilton! But no one (including his team mate) seems to be as fast as he is.

    3. @roaldq The key is that he’s had an input into the car from birth this time around – unlike the car he drove last year which had been borne and bred by Schumi And Nico

    4. For years Merc completely overheated their tyres, way quicker than their competitors. I bet that flaw has turned into a pro for them now that the tyres are rock hard, because it means that unlike everyone else, they can now actually put enough heat into the tyres.

      1. “Rock hard”!?, less soft would be a more factual description.

  3. Keith, I think you meant Thursday practice :)

    1. haha, the austrian commentator always got it wrong today and in the end he was laughing at himself because he steps into that trap every year! at the start of the coverage he said ‘welcome to the friday practice’ and at the end he said ‘tune in for the qualifying tomorrow… uuh i mean the day after, damn it!’

  4. Was he actually late for the session itself (i.e. was he on track later than he could have been) or did he just miss out on some pre-practice stuff?

    1. Just late for the briefing with the team. 5 min late in fact.

      1. Among Germans, 5 minutes late is still late, I’m afraid.

        1. Among Germans if you are not early you are late. Anyway good to know Lewis is rested.

  5. I picked Nico this year, may be wrong, the more Lewis talks I get more confident- both should just drive!
    Nico will get stronger in the 2nd half I Think…………………………………..

    1. Agree on 100%

    2. if f1 drivers just drove and never spoke,then ppl would feel even more distant from the drivers.talking is part of thier job.and in the second half of what….the race or season.coz after monaco we have tracks lewis is super strong at.

      1. yeah, Matt’s nailed it. We’re heading into places like Canada where Lewis is “kind of comfortable” LOL

        I wouldn’t put a lot of money on Nico pipping him :)

        1. Hungry is another track which Hamilton does well at. In fact I think its his best track in terms of wins ?

          1. He is good at Sleepy too.

  6. This is some hard-core mind games from Hamilton. “I can just sleep-in on practice day and still smoke you, Nico.”

    1. It’s not mind games, he’s actually doing that :)

    2. Don’t think it’s mind games, just he’s at home in his own bed etc.

      Strangely for us both me and my boyfriend slept through alarms this morning, he gets up at 6:30 and I get up at 7:30 but we both woke up at 8am when the kids woke up! It happens sometimes.

    3. Proper mind games from Lewis here.
      He’s saying Nico has to work so hard, whilst he can take it easy and still be quicker.
      I bet Nico is starting to bounce of the walls trying to find that little bit extra only to find that Lewis has bested him again. Lewis has more time that he is not revealing yet!!

  7. Lewis is 100% mind games, that’s his thing!
    If he fly’s he is strong, if not so sure Nico will come over for sure!!

    But Daniel & Vettel better here- great race!!!

  8. well, all he has to do is beat rosberg… who cares if he overslept.

    1. exactly

  9. Mclarensgirl1
    22nd May 2014, 17:03

    Definately got up late no time for the ear studs. Good Luck for Sunday Lewis

  10. I don’t know if Nicole is there, but he was probably taking a leaf out of the Hunt handbook and having breakfast ;)

  11. Sounds like his “GP Weekend alarm” didn’t have Thursday as one of the days :P Unique Monaco :)

  12. it’s amazing how HAM know how to lose a momantum every year lol
    nobody will argue when NR win WDC that HAM blow it lol

    1. What ?

      1. It’s like someone trying to make a joke under 5 inches of water. You can hear them bubbling away and laughing at their own wit, but you’re left bewildered.

        1. OK, now that made me laugh so hard I spewed coke all over my keyboard!!!

        2. haha great! :D

  13. Gotta love how everything Hamilton does is ‘OMG mind games!’. Can’t wait for the news Lewis has bought a new TV or something equally irrelevant so I can read more ‘OMG mind games!’ posts!

  14. We all oversleep, but obviously freak out when we hear that someone else does.

  15. shows how boring F1 has become even the driver fell asleep lol

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