Lewis Hamilton achieved his best starting position of the year by qualifying fifth for the Canadian Grand Prix. However, he was surprised that Ferrari did not let him run on medium tires. Unlike George Russell and Max Verstappen – who will start from the front row on Sunday – Hamilton, like Charles Leclerc, was fitted with the softest tires. The Briton complained afterwards that his car is ‘not fast enough’.
Earlier this year, Pirelli introduced the C6 compound, a new, extra soft tire designed for even faster lap times. However, on some circuits, drivers struggle to keep this tire in the right window for multiple laps. That’s why Russell and Verstappen chose the medium tire in the final qualifying segment in Montreal. Hamilton had to ‘just’ do with the softs – a choice he later openly questioned.
“We did our best,” Hamilton sighed after qualifying to Sky Sports. “I believe the car’s setup was good, and I worked extremely hard all weekend to go faster, but I just don’t think we can find much more speed. We probably can’t really compete with the drivers at the front,” he referred to Russell and Verstappen. “We just have to accept it.”
‘Why Didn’t We Consider That?’
Hamilton also referred to his teammate Charles Leclerc, who started strong on his last fast lap but couldn’t complete it. The Monegasque clocked a purple first sector, but then lost a lot of time in the dirty air of Isack Hadjar. “Maybe there were a few tenths left, but even then we wouldn’t have been on the front row,” Hamilton stated. “The other drivers were also on mediums,” the seven-time world champion noted. “I don’t understand why we didn’t consider that. We were told that the soft tire was better, so we just went for it.”
Looking ahead to the race, Hamilton hopes for a better outcome than in Barcelona. There, he struggled with technical issues and could barely extract speed from his SF-25. “Of course, I hope that problem doesn’t recur,” said Hamilton. “We’ve done everything to fix it, so I’m looking forward to a good day tomorrow.” History is on his side – Hamilton has crossed the finish line first at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve no less than seven times. “I really love this track,” he grinned. “However, it’s very different driving here with Ferrari. It’s very, very difficult to adapt. But hopefully, I can compete from P5. In that regard, it might be an advantage that I still have a new set of mediums. After all, I’m still chasing my first podium with Ferrari.”
