Monaco GP Hamilton pit error overblown says Mercedes F1's Lowe

Hamilton was cruising to success around the streets of the principality until an incorrect strategy call from the Mercedes pitwall in a safety car period.

Monaco GP analysis: How did Mercedes get it so wrong?

The reigning world champion was called in for a fresh set of tyres, but dropped to third behind team-mate and eventual race-winner Nico Rosberg, and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who both opted to remain out on their used rubber.

The situation earned Mercedes substantial criticism, which Lowe believes was excessive.

"There has been a great deal of comment concerning our mistake in Monaco and its consequences," he said.

"On behalf of the team, this error should be put into context - it was a single error made in a split second based on incorrect data.

"Sport is all about split-second decisions, trading risk with reward, and we do not always get these decisions right.

"But in my opinion this team gets them right more than most.

"However, as in all aspects we must always improve, and the failure in Monaco will undoubtedly play its part in that process."

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff claims what occurred in Monaco "has been tough for all of us to swallow".

He added: "You can never afford to drop points, and this was a reminder that any error can prove costly.

"However, we must also remember how far we have come to be disappointed with a P1 and P3 finish in Monaco.

"So we take it on the chin as a team, learn from our mistakes and now look ahead to the next race in Canada."

FRESH ENGINES FOR CANADA

Mercedes has confirmed its cars will move onto their second engines of the season for Canada, although unlike rivals Honda and Ferrari, it has managed to so far avoid using any tokens available for upgrades.

"We will bring new power units to this event, the second units of 2015 for each driver," confirmed Lowe.

"Our first power units were used for six complete race weekends, an incredible achievement by the team at Brixworth that saw both achieve total mileages of over 4000km [2485 miles].

"We suspect our competitors may also bring new power units, which this year may be upgraded in-season using development tokens, so it will be interesting to see whether and how the balance of power is shifted this weekend."