Lewis Hamilton unlocks Ferrari magic with Montreal breakthrough

MONTREAL – Lewis Hamilton celebrated his strongest performance yet in Ferrari red after finishing second at the Canadian Grand Prix on May 24, crediting behind-the-scenes changes and a fresh approach to car set-up for finally unlocking his potential with the Italian team.

The seven-time Formula One world champion passed Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the closing laps at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to secure his second podium finish this season, after third place in China in March.

Only Mercedes’ championship leader Kimi Antonelli finished ahead of him, with Verstappen taking third ahead of Hamilton’s Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.

“The prep before, I chose a different set-up this weekend through just ciphering through the data, working really well with my engineer,” Hamilton said. “I was able to attack all the corners finally.”

He praised Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur’s support in implementing changes to make him more comfortable in the car.

“There’s a lot of changes that I’ve had to ask for,” he said. “And Fred’s been super supportive and again also moving mountains in order to make me comfortable. And it’s finally starting to show in my performance.”

The 41-year-old was also grateful for the work of his engineers, including Cedric Michel-Grosjean, who has replaced veteran Riccardo Adami.

“I’m really grateful to the team for continuing to hold me up high and support me weekend in, weekend out,” he added.

“And it’s a really lovely feeling to see them so happy, because they truly deserve it with all the hard work they put in.”

The result proved particularly encouraging given Montreal’s emphasis on straight-line speed, an area where Ferrari have traditionally struggled.

While Ferrari brought their major upgrade package to Miami earlier this season, several rivals, including Mercedes, introduced updates in Canada.

“Considering this is a real straight-line-speed circuit and we just managed to hold on and get this result, that definitely gives me high hopes for what’s ahead,” Hamilton said.

He admitted the journey to this breakthrough had been gruelling.

“This is my first second place with the team,” he said. “It’s something I’ve been working so hard, I can’t even begin to explain how deep I’ve had to dig to be able to get to this point.”

Elsewhere on the grid, McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had a race to forget with the team’s ill-advised tyre selection at the start backfiring and their day unravelling from there.

World champion Norris retired on Lap 38 with a gearbox problem and Piastri finished outside the points in 11th after crashing into Williams’ Alex Albon.

Norris and Piastri started third and fourth on the grid, but the team chose intermediates tyres for both cars while most of the field went with slicks in cold and slippery conditions.

The decision briefly looked promising when Norris stormed into the lead, but the rain had stopped before the start and both cars were forced into early pit stops as the track dried out.

“Unfortunately for us, it stopped raining as the formation lap started, basically,” Piastri told Sky TV.

“So, yeah, just one of those things where had it rained a little bit more, we would have looked like heroes. But it didn’t, so we looked like idiots.”

Team principal Andrea Stella said the call should be judged based on the information available at the time, rather than just on the outcome.

McLaren, the reigning constructors’ champions, finished without a point on a day when Antonelli won his fourth straight race for Mercedes.

Norris is in fifth place in the drivers’ standings 73 points behind the Italian teenager, while Piastri is sixth a further 10 points back. Mercedes’ George Russell sits second, ahead of the Ferrari pair of Leclerc and Hamilton respectively.

“Today was not our day,” Stella said. REUTERS