‘I’m not listening to any of the hype’ – Hamilton responds to Ferrari favourites tag in Monaco

Lewis Hamilton has confessed that he is refusing to listen to “any of the hype” surrounding Ferrari’s chances at the Monaco Grand Prix, insisting that he is prioritising building on the lessons from previous rounds.

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, who has won four of this season’s five Grands Prix so far, recently labelled the Scuderia “the team to beat” due to the reduced focus on power at the Circuit de Monaco, which features some of the slowest corners on the calendar.

Hamilton himself admitted that he thinks their performance will be strong, but was eager to manage expectations after finishing second in the Canadian Grand Prix, which marked another improvement for Ferrari in their mission to catch up to the Silver Arrows.

Asked for his thoughts about people tipping the team as favourites in Monaco, he said: “I'm not listening to any of the hype. I'm just trying to take the learnings from each weekend and try to move forwards. I think really that's what we're focused on this weekend.

“There are no certainties in F1. [The podium in Canada] didn't leave us with any certainties. There were things that we learnt, things that we can do better and things we try to take the positives and move them forwards.”

The Briton is no stranger to success on the streets of Monte Carlo, having won there on three occasions throughout his years with McLaren and Mercedes – 2008, 2016 and 2019 – but his first time in Monaco with Ferrari was one to forget.

After qualifying fourth last season, he was penalised for impeding Max Verstappen and fought to recover positions on race day, eventually settling for fifth before branding his day “miserable” while his team mate Charles Leclerc finished on the podium.

Reflecting on how his situation has changed compared to 2025, Hamilton said: “I think it's a lot different this whole year. A lot of pawns have moved, managed to move a lot of things on the chessboard and reposition myself within the team.

“We're working really well together. I've got the right engineers that I need now. They're doing a great job and I feel like I've obviously had input in this year's car and it's moving in the direction that I particularly like.

“These things take time and I'm grateful that we are where we are but we've got a lot of work going forwards. I think it's not a given that we're going to be competitive everywhere we go.”