Wolff excuses Hamilton for bad mood in Monaco

Toto Wolff says Lewis Hamilton’s bad mood on Saturday was understandable.

Reporters said the reigning world champion - usually calm and chirpy in 2016 - was obviously annoyed in Monaco after yet another engine glitch left him just third on the grid.

The Briton said reliability trouble has "become the norm" on his car this year.

"You can’t overtake here, so..." Hamilton said.

"I’ve had many bad years in racing and this is another. Today was the crucial day so... tomorrow’s just another day. I will do whatever I can but I don’t expect too much.

"If the car keeps going I will be fighting as hard as I can with these guys," he added.

Wolff, Mercedes’ team boss, said Hamilton is excused for being grumpy to be starting F1’s ’jewel in the crown’ race behind Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Rosberg.

"We’re all upset we keep having these gremlins but we need to sort it out. Lewis wears his heart on his sleeve and when he’s had a bad day, you see that."

Having a very good day, meanwhile, was Red Bull’s Ricciardo, breaking through for his first pole of his F1 career and surprising many by beating the normally-dominant Mercedes.

"They (Red Bull) were better. Simple," said Mercedes’ Niki Lauda.

Ferrari, on the other hand, look to have now fallen behind Red Bull as the second force in F1, with Sebastian Vettel just fourth.

"We saw Ferrari as our closest competitor and now we need to question that," admitted championship leader Nico Rosberg.

"Of course Monaco is a very unique track, so let’s not come to any conclusions here," he added.