Lewis Hamiltoꩲn says after the opening lap battles he had already accepted third place behind Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel as he was "literally cruising, it wasn’t really racing" in Monaco.

After Hamilton ended 🐠qualifying third in Monaco the Mercedes driver knew his chances of maintaining his winning run after back-to-back victories in Azerbaijan and Spain looked unlikely due to the iconic street circuit being notoriously difficult to overtake at.

As no major incidents or oppo♏rtunities provided a chance for Hamilton to move up from third place he admitted he had accepted thꦆe final spot on the podium from as early as the sixth lap.

“To go away here after such a long race, it felt like the longest race I’ve ever done,” Hamilton s♚aid. “I’m looking forward to the following races, hopefully ✃they’ll be more fun.

“We were just cruising around from Lap 6 maybe. Literally cruising. It wasn’t reaꦇlly racing.

“Daniel Ricciardo did a great job today, so I’m super happy for him. But ultimately we were all turned down, and just cruising around, making sure we got to the end. I’m not sure if that’s excitin👍g to watch.”

With Vettel i🍌n second place in Monaco Hamilton’s F1 world championship lead has been trimme🍰d down to 14 points by the Ferrari driver.