Lewis Hamilton lashed out at the Ferrari team after claiming fifth place at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday. The seven-time F1 world champion started in P7 but climbed a couple of places to pick up 10 points at the second European race of the year.

Hamilton impressed during qualifying as he clocked the fourth fastest time on Saturday. But he was demoted three positions ahead of the race after being adjudged to have impeded Max Verstappen in Q1. He eventually moved ahead of Racing Bulls star Isack Hadjar and Aston Martin ace Fernando Alonso, with Lando Norris winning the race from pole ahead of Hamilton’s Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton finished the race around 45 seconds behind those at the front of the pack, with drivers forced to contend with a new regulation requiring them to pit twice and use three sets of tyres throughout the race.

The 40-year-old was quizzed about the time deficit during his post-race interview with Sky Sports. And after being asked if he could explain the time difference, he simply replied: “No.”

He was then told it was “kind of crazy to see that” and replied: “Not really, it just happens.” The veteran was then asked for a second time if he knew why the time deficit was so big and again muttered: “No.”

The frosty exchange continued as Hamilton was asked about the mandated second stop. And the Briton explained: “I can't comment on the rest of the race, I was kind of in the middle of nowhere.

“With the penalty that I had I obviously started in seventh. I was behind two cars for some time and then I managed to clear them and then I was in no man's land for a bit.

“I was really not racing anyone, I needed a Safety Car or something to come into play and it didn't happen. It was pretty straight forward from there.”

Hamilton was then quizzed about instructions he received over the team radio where he was told: “Push now, this is our race.”

And he took aim at Ferrari as he exclaimed: “It wasn't very clear... the information wasn't that clear. I didn't really understand 'this is our race'.

“I didn't know what I was fighting for. Am I fighting for the next spot ahead? In actual fact when I look at the data I wasn't near anybody ahead. I used up my tyres a lot in that moment, but I was so far away from them.”