Lewis Hamilton has called for a Ferrari "deep dive" into why his car felt "drastically different" in Monaco Grand Prix qualifying, despite very few changes being made ahead of the crucial session.
The seven-time world champion was the fastest driver on the opening day at the Circuit de Monaco but found himself more than two tenths adrift of pole position when it came to qualifying.
While Hamilton secured a second-row start in third, he was unable to truly challenge for a front-row spot, with polesitter Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen demonstrating significantly stronger pace.
Hamilton had been one of the favourites for pole position given his exceptional speed on Friday, although Ferrari appeared to lose its advantage as the weekend progressed.
From the start of Saturday, Ferrari found itself behind Antonelli, while Verstappen remained a constant threat throughout the event.
According to Hamilton, the SF-26 did not feel the same to drive in qualifying as it had for the rest of the Monaco weekend, prompting the Briton to call on Ferrari to investigate why despite having altered very little.
"Tough for us," said Hamilton. "I think we were looking so strong in practice. We barely changed anything, but the car was drastically different once we got to qualifying for some reason, so we have to take a deep dive into that.
"But I gave it absolutely everything. I was as close to the barriers as I could be, and you know, what a privilege it is to be here and to be one of the 22 drivers in Formula 1, still getting to do this.
"And yeah, I love every second of it."
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