Frustrated Hamilton Doesn't Like Playing Catchup

Lewis Hamilton has admitted he is not enjoying being the hunter in this year's world championship fight.

Primarily because of the unreliability of his Mercedes car this year, Hamilton finds himself trailing team-mate Nico Rosberg by 43 points in the standings.

But the reigning champion has scoffed at the idea that, in the position of chaser, the pressure is off him - or that it's harder being the driver everyone else is striving to catch.

"It's much easier leading the championship, full stop," the Mercedes driver responded. "You have the advantage and so you have that comfort buffer. I have zero comfort buffer right now. It's just hard work right now. I'm not focusing on the 'what ifs', I'm just focusing on the here and now."

Hamilton has previously described his points-deficit to Rosberg as being akin to a 'mountain' with the German almost two full race victories ahead.

So has Hamilton already come to terms with the possibility of failing to complete a hat-trick of championships at Mercedes?

"If it happens, it happens, if it doesn't, it doesn't. There will be many, many opportunities in the future but this opportunity is still there - we have 16 races to go - and I'm remaining positive.

"The glass is only 10 per cent full and there is still all the rest to fill up."

But Rosberg has his own special motivation this weekend. Victory would make him only the fourth driver in F1 history to have won at Monaco three or more times in a row.

And the current roll-call is an illustrious list: Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and 'Mr Monaco', Graham Hill.

Hamilton, conversely, has won just once around the iconic venue - a modest statistic which prompted him to describe the race as his "Achilles heel" earlier this month.

And while Hamilton remains a committed fan of the art of conquering the circuit and its unforgiving barriers, describing a lap of Monte Carlo as "one of the purest thrills you can have in a racing car", the 31-year-old has admitted that he is not a fan of the spectacle the race sometimes provides.