Lewis Hamilton: Has Ferrari driver actually discovered ‘candy spot’ after ‘superior’ weekend at Canadian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton’s late overtake on Max Verstappen for second on the Canadian Grand Prix topped off his most spectacular weekend since becoming a member of Ferrari 18 months in the past.

Hamilton outshone team-mate Charles Leclerc all through the Dash weekend in Montreal to say his greatest consequence at Ferrari and simply his second podium.

“These guys [Ferrari] have welcomed me with open arms, and it’s been pretty tough over the past year and a bit, so to finally find our sweet spot and have a good weekend has really been an amazing feeling,” he mentioned.

Equally to George Russell, Hamilton went into the weekend needing a giant efficiency after two tough occasions.

Nevertheless, not like Russell, the seven-time world champion acquired the response he was on the lookout for as he let his driving do the speaking…

Retirement for Hamilton? Not for ‘a while’

Hamilton made a robust begin to 2026 as he was on the tempo of Leclerc in Australia and China, claiming his first Ferrari podium in Shanghai.

He seemed to be having fun with the brand new vehicles considerably greater than the earlier floor impact machines, however his type abruptly dropped in Japan and Miami as he didn’t beat Leclerc on the street in any of the six aggressive classes throughout these weekends.

Final Thursday in Montreal, Hamilton was requested about his future by the Italian media, particularly if all the things was clear about whether or not he could be driving for Ferrari in 2027.

He responded: “I’m still in contract, so everything is 100 per cent clear to me. I’m still focused, I’m still motivated, I still love what I do with all my heart, and I’m going to be here for quite some time, so get used to it.

“There’s lots of people which might be making an attempt to retire me and that is not even on my ideas. I am already pondering of what is going to be subsequent, planning for the subsequent 5 years. However yeah, nonetheless plan to be right here for a while.”

Sky Sports F1 understands not only does Hamilton have a Ferrari contract for 2027, but an option, should he wish, to remain at the team in 2028.

Whoever Hamilton’s answer was aimed at, he wanted to make public that you won’t get rid of him easily. Contracts can be broken in Formula 1 though, and there are usually performance clauses for the team and driver, so, with his comments, there was extra attention on Hamilton now for the weekend, and he certainly thrived on it.

Hamilton delivers after ‘transferring mountains’

Ferrari introduced no upgrades to Montreal whereas rivals Mercedes, McLaren and Pink Bull had new components, so the Scuderia have been anticipating to have a difficult weekend.

However, Hamilton was instantly on it in observe, visibly hustling the automobile to discover its limits, and located a pleasant groove early on. That translated to fifth in Dash Qualifying afterward Friday however his tempo in SQ1 and SQ2 was notably encouraging as he seemed like difficult the Mercedes for pole.

A small mistake on the hairpin in SQ3 price Hamilton third place, however he nonetheless beat team-mate Leclerc who was fighting the brakes.

“That’s probably the best qualifying session we’ve had for some time,” mentioned Hamilton.

“Just really great work with the engineers, setup changes, the car felt really fantastic from P1, and we made just subtle changes going into qualy.”

Within the Dash itself, Hamilton was operating in fourth till he was overtaken late on by Oscar Piastri with Leclerc additionally slipping by to complete forward of the British driver.

Ferrari made some setup tweaks for Qualifying afterward Saturday and Hamilton outqualified Leclerc in fifth once more. This time an influence unit drawback denied him from at the least splitting McLarens on the second row.

With drizzle within the air and tough, gusty situations, Hamilton got here alive on race day. He was overtaken early on by a flying Verstappen and dropped seven seconds behind his previous rival as soon as everybody pitted with 37 laps remaining.

Because the stint progressed, Hamilton slowly chipped away at Verstappen’s benefit in what turned out to be the battle for second after Russell’s retirement.

He was proper up towards the partitions and pushing the bounds of the automobile’s braking skill, figuring out he wanted to take some dangers to catch who most understand as one of the best driver on the grid.

“I love that hunt. That’s what my whole life has been about since [I was] a kid, since I had a really old go-kart, I was just always hunting,” mentioned Hamilton.

It initially seemed just like the superior Pink Bull straight-line velocity and Verstappen’s sensible defending could be sufficient to carry Hamilton off. Nevertheless, the Ferrari driver tactically used his deployment to make a transfer going into Flip 1 with six laps remaining to take his greatest Grand Prix lead to crimson.

“I was just having to do these calculations, trying to figure out how to maximise the amount of power on my battery bar each straight and make sure that I have enough at that particular point,” he mentioned.

“Thank God I managed to pull it off. And it’s a great feeling when you overtake as well.”

Was no-simulator strategy the rationale for robust weekend?

Hamilton has been utilizing the Ferrari simulator to organize for race weekends considerably greater than he did at McLaren and Mercedes. However, the 2 rounds he didn’t use the simulator have been in China and Canada – the 2 races at which he is scored podiums.

He mentioned “everything was opposite” as soon as he acquired to the monitor within the races he used the simulator, so he determined to focus extra on information to optimise nook stability and the braking – two areas he isn’t been proud of for a lot of this season.

Hamilton says he is eager to make use of the simulator to correlate for Canada to see what the crew are lacking and why their equipment at Maranello just isn’t at all times transferring the identical outcomes in actual life onto the monitor, however he doesn’t plan to make use of it to organize for race weekends.

“There are just too many risks. If you look at the two best races I’ve had, I didn’t use a simulator,” he mentioned.

“Pretty much all the championships before, except for probably 2008, I didn’t use the sim, so it’s not a necessity. It’s a tool that can be powerful. But for me, I’m old school. I’m probably better without it.”

Was Canada a turning level for Hamilton?

Hamilton is skilled sufficient to know he cannot let Canada be a one-off, and his return to type is well timed given there are six rounds in eight weeks earlier than the summer season break on the finish of July.

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve has at all times been a monitor he is gone nicely at, having taken his maiden pole place and win there in 2007.

Leclerc mentioned he had a “nightmare” weekend and struggled for confidence within the chilly situations, so the true check for Hamilton is arising and there is maybe no greater problem than the subsequent race in Monaco.

Ferrari are anticipated to be very robust, even perhaps the crew to beat, there on account of their energy within the low-speed corners and the dearth of straights which is not going to present up their energy deficiency.

That strain of with the ability to win, coupled with Leclerc being on dwelling soil on a monitor he adores, might be a giant hurdle for Hamilton to beat.

“I think our car could be really strong there,” mentioned Hamilton, who final received the Monaco Grand Prix in 2019.

“I’m really going to focus on making sure I arrive with the same energy as I had in Canada, really study hard with the engineers to make sure we position the car in the right place from Practice One.”

Maybe Hamilton ought to carry his mom, Carmen Larbalestier, to Monaco as the 2 races she’s attended this 12 months – China and Canada – suggests she may very well be a fortunate attraction.

“I got an apartment in Canada, so my mom stayed with me. So, every night we’d have dinner together and we’d watch a movie or just sit up talking. It’s been awesome,” he mentioned.

“We’re going on a little bit of a trip for a couple of days, so I’m really excited about that. To go on a positive result as well is awesome. So, now she has to come, she’s clearly my lucky omen, my lucky charm, have her come every weekend!”

Subsequent up is the beginning of Components 1’s European summer season swing, with the Monaco Grand Prix the primary of six races in eight weeks. Watch dwell on Sky Sports activities F1 from June 5-7. Stream Sky Sports activities with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime