WILLIAMS’ drivers suffered mixed emotions after a frustrating Monaco Grand Prix.

The Grove-based Formula 1 team failed to score points in the principality, with Sergey Sirotkin 16th and Lance Stroll 17th.

Race day proved to be one to forget after an encouraging qualifying session.

Sirotkin, who started 13th, was handed a ten-second stop-go penalty for a tyre infringement on the grid.

Stroll suffered two punctures, the first forcing not only a tyre change, but also a new front wing, leaving him with no opportunity to progress.

The Canadian said: “It was pretty terrible.

“I got a puncture on lap nine and lost a bunch of time, like a lap, just getting to the pits.

“After that I was busy letting cars through with blue flags as I was a lap down.”

For Sirotkin, who is yet to score a point in 2018, it was a case of what might have been.

He said: “It wasn’t ideal to finish where we did but, in some ways, it was a good race.

“We had a car that was definitely allowing me to fight.

“I think we had the pace and a good chance to be in the point.

“But we had a bit of bad luck with the penalty following what went wrong on the grid.”

Enstone-based Renault consolidated fourth place in the constructors’ standings after both of their drivers picked up points in an uneventful race.

Nico Hulkenberg was eighth, with Carlos Sainz tenth.

After starting 11th, the former drove a superb first stint to pit in sixth place and was delighted with the result.

Hulkenberg said: “It was a good recovery from a not so successful qualifying and I think eighth was the best we could do in the situation.

“That’s the thing with Monaco – it can be crazy or it can be like this year, but we made the most of the opportunities.”

Sainz enjoyed a strong start, but lost places late on to cars with newer tyres.

He said: “It was a very difficult race for me.

“We changed tyres on lap 16 and then I had to do over 60 laps with the ultrasoft tyre, which was not ideal due to the heavy graining we had.

“There wasn’t much I could do – the other cars on other strategies were just much quicker.”

There was also frustration in the Banbury-prepared Haas garage, with Kevin Magnussen 13th and Romain Grosjean 15th.

The former cut a despondent figure after he was unable to build on the 19 points he has scored so far this season.

Magnussen said: “The car we had at the weekend was not representative of what we should have had.

“I’m just glad we’re out of here, and I can’t wait to go to Montreal and get back into the fight.”

Grosjean added: “It was a tough race.

“We struggled and didn’t have much pace.”