Lewis Hamilton sets Ferrari goal after 'truly deserved' Monaco result

Lewis Hamilton wants more downforce for his Ferrari as he aims to take the next step on the podium with the Italian team.

The seven-time F1 drivers' champion secured his second successive second-place finish in the Monaco Grand Prix, and insists his colleagues "truly deserve" a first victory together after all their hard work.

After enduring a torrid first campaign with the Scuderia in 2025, the partnership is coming good, and Hamilton has taken three podiums in the opening six rounds of the season.

He came close to clinching that elusive first win with the Maranello-based team, but fell short against Kimi Antonelli, who won his fifth-straight grand prix in the Mercedes Hamilton gave up for his move to the Prancing Horse.

"I have to start by congratulating Kimi and the Mercedes team, the whole family, they've done it again, they've created an amazing car, and Kimi is doing an incredible job, just delivering weekend, weekend out," the 41-year-old said after the chaotic race in Monte Carlo. "It's great to see, and I'm really happy for them

"On our side, I think we've been progressing over the past months, and can't quite keep up with them just yet, and it's probably going to take a lot of work for us to get to their level, but to get another second place is such a great feeling, especially in Monaco, under the trickiest conditions.

"It was the hardest conditions out there... so, I'll definitely take it."

Hamilton survived a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane and outlasted pressure from Charles Leclerc in the second SF-26.

The Monegasque driver's afternoon ended in the wall at the safety car restart, with his crash triggering a late red flag stoppage.

Hamilton was unable to get the better of Antonelli at the restart, and when asked what his biggest challenge of an incident-strewn race was, he set his Ferrari team a mission. 

"I think for me it's really the car," the 105-time Grand Prix winner said. "The car is good, but we need more downforce ultimately.

"And I think just with the tyres, with the different scenarios we had out there, I ran out of tyres quite early in the first stint, and then I was on that long second stint, and these tyres aren't particularly great just over a long stint, so holding on to that was going to be tough.

"And then once we had to slow down under the safety car [conditions], you lose all temperature, and you saw with other drivers out there that it was really hard to stay on track, so I think just with all the different things that have been thrown at us, it was massively challenging.

"But [I'm] really, really grateful for the day. Happy, grateful to the team, grazie to everyone back at the factory, and all the other guys here who have worked so hard to get this result.

"They truly deserve this and more, and I've just got to keep working harder to try to see if I can finally take that next step for them soon."