The seven-time world champion, speaking to the media after another frustrating weekend, said: “I don't really know what happened in turn 1, but obviously not great to be hit (referring to his crash with Sainz into turn 1) and after that the car was just gone.”

About his crash with Colapinto, the Brit added: “He made a mistake out of the last corner, so then I got a good run and as I started to pull out I felt like he moved at the same time.”

Speaking more broadly about a season that seems far from taking off as hoped, Hamilton finally added: “It's obviously a disaster, a stress, and a disappointment for everyone in the team. But I'm trying to keep my head above water, I'm trying to remain positive.”

Despite yet another disappointing result and being knocked out in Q2 yesterday, Hamilton still believes in the car’s potential.

“Charles did a great job in qualifying yesterday so there is some performance in our car, and I agree — at this point I just have to believe that something will come out of all these hardships we’re going through.”

He finally added: “I'm sure we're destined for something positive in the future, but maybe we're getting all our bad luck out of the way this year. We won't give up.”

Like Hamilton, the Monegasque’s race didn’t make it to the checkered flag. Leclerc was involved in an incident in the early stages of the race with Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri at Turn 1, with the Mercedes driver ending up bouncing off the SF-25 following contact with the Australian.

It was number 16 who came off worst, forced to retire, while the other two drivers crossed the line in second and fifth respectively, with Piastri later receiving a penalty during the race for causing the incident.