Lewis Hamilton salvages seventh after frustrating weekend in Monaco

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton lost a lot of points to championship rival Sebastian Vettel on Sunday after a frustrating weekend in Monaco.

The British driver could qualify no better than 14th, after mistakes, traffic and a wreck for Stoffel Vandoorne prevented him from advancing out of Q2. However, he started 13th due to a grid penalty for McLaren driver Jenson Button.

Hamilton made it up to 12th at the start but couldn’t advance any further as it was virtually impossible to pass in these wider cars on the narrow streets.

Instead, Hamilton and his team used strategy as they opted to be the last car to pit during the race.

As others darted off down pit road, Hamilton moved up to sixth place ahead of his stop. As the race progressed the cars behind him got spread out, Hamilton set some fast times on a clean track and - once he pitted - he returned to the track in seventh.

A late safety car period bunched the field back up again but, once again, Hamilton found it virtually impossible to make a move once the race restarted and so he crossed the line in seventh.

Vettel now has a 25-point lead over Hamilton in the points.