Hamilton: Mercedes learned a lot from Monaco and Canada

Lewis Hamilton is confident Mercedes can start to perform more consistently after it made a significant step in its understanding of the latest generation of Pirelli tyres between the Monaco and Canadian Grands Prix.

Hamilton has won three of this season's seven races, but a seventh-place finish in Monaco and a fourth-place finish in Russia cost him crucial points in his championship battle with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. Both performances were followed by victories at the next round, but that only served to underline the frustrations Mercedes was experiencing with understanding how to maximise performance from the tyres.

The problem stemmed from getting all four tyres into the right…