Mercedes recognized that they made a mistake in the communication provided to Lewis Hamilton during an undercut attempt at the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix. The strategy of the Mercedes drivers and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was disrupted by a red flag on the first lap, forcing them to carefully manage their medium tires. Despite having a big enough lead to make a pit stop without losing position, Mercedes called Hamilton into the pits on lap 51 to switch to the hard compound. Unfortunately, Hamilton did not receive the crucial message about the out lap and ended up behind Verstappen when Red Bull responded on the next lap to cover the undercut. While Verstappen began to chase George Russell in the other Mercedes with his new tires, Hamilton questioned why he did not receive the necessary call. Team boss Toto Wolff admitted that there was a communication failure on the pit wall and that the message given to Hamilton was confusing and incorrect. Wolff also acknowledged that overtaking is nearly impossible on the narrow streets of Monte Carlo, meaning that the race result was essentially determined after the second start. He mentioned that there was a strategic move that could have helped, involving the Safety Car at the right moment. However, this would have been unfair to one driver and fair to the other. Ultimately, Monaco is a track where making significant changes is difficult, and the race result often reflects the starting positions.
