Explaining the controversy around Lewis Hamilton not pushing on his out-lap in the F1 Monaco GP

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was dismayed after he wasn't told by the team to push on his outlaw whilst trying to grab P6 from Max Verstappen during the pit stops at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday. The early red flag negated any of the team's strategic options for the remainder of the race as every single driver switched their tires to make the mandatory pitstop.

Hamilton, who had qualified P7 behind teammate George Russell and Max Verstappen, was left in a no man's land as he could not overtake the cars in front and had over a pitstop worth of gap to Yuki Tsunoda in P8.

The seven-time world champion decided to make another pitstop mid-race to gain a position from Max Verstappen and potentially attack George Russell.

However, Lewis Hamilton wasn't told by the team to push and that the out-lap was critical to pass Max Verstappen and undercut him. He wasn't able to make the jump on the Red Bull driver as the latter came out ahead of him and regained his P6 position.

The whole situation frustrated Lewis Hamilton, who questioned the decision-making of the team on the pitwall.

In the post-race interview with Sky Sports, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff accepted the mistake and claimed that they had a miscommunication whilst making the decision. He said:

"That was a miscommunication first between us on the pit wall. We got that wrong, it should have been an 'out-lap critical' in trying to undercut. But then there was a debate whether any out-lap would be enough on the new tire, so the message he got was at best confusing, but probably wrong.

"It should have been an 'out-lap critical'. The worry in the background was if we stretched the tyre in a single lap then what would happen later? But in summary, it was the wrong message to Lewis, and this is a team sport."

Lewis Hamilton analyzes the Monaco GP on Sunday

Hamilton stated that the German team shot some encouraging signs throughout the weekend. He complimented the former world champions for bringing the upgrades to Monaco and Imola in their bid to improve their performances in the 2024 season.

As per F1.com, the Mercedes driver said:

"There have been plenty of encouraging signs from our performance this weekend. The team has worked so hard to bring updates to the car and we’ve got more to come across the next few races.

"We have taken a step forward with the car and, if we can continue to make a few more, then we can hopefully get ourselves into the fight with the three teams ahead of us."

Mercedes are P4 in the constructors' championship with 96 points but are still 88 points behind McLaren who are a place above them.