Lewis Hamilton says after the opening lap bat🦩tles he had already accepted third place behind R🎶ed 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 Merc☂edes 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 opportunities provided a chance for Hamilton to move up from third place he admitted he had accepted the final spot on the podium from as early as the sixth lap.

“To go away here𒁏 after such a long race, itꦛ felt like the longest race I’ve ever done,” Hamilton said. “I’m looking forward to the following races, hopefully they’ll be more fun.

“We were just cruising around from Lap 6 maybe. Literally cruisiꦡ💖ng. It wasn’t really 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 excit﷽ing to watch.”

With Vettel in 🅰second place in Monaco Hamilton’s F1 world championship lead has beꦆen trimmed down to 14 points by the Ferrari driver.